An Elves' Child
by Kittymui
Summary: Kagome, an outcast, was alone until a certain silver haired mercenary rescued her. One day she found out he was going to be executed, how can she save him? AU and KagxSess
1. Prologue

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients and my imaginations into a new story.

**INTRODUCTION OF CHARACTERS IN THIS CHAPTER:**   
  
**Shira:** The mother of Kagome, very caring and loves to help people.  
  
**Ron:** The father of Kagome, very well known because of his hunting skill. Finds his pride very important and loves his wife very much. 

~*~

_Italic_: thoughts   
-- --: locations   
"...": spoken words   
~*~*~*~*~: time gap   
*...* : noises

  


* * *

  


**AN ELVES' CHILD**   
  
-by Kittymui-  
  
**Prologue**

**The things you should know first before reading this story:**  
This story takes place in the Feudal Age, where the land is divided in four counties and each ruled by a king.  
The countries are called: the Northern, Eastern, Western and Southern Lands.

The problem is that right now, the four countries are at war with each other in order to gain more land and power. Because of the lack of armies, the rulers are forced to hire mercenaries to do the conquering for them. This story only concentrates on the war between the Eastern and Western Lands.   
Mercenaries are youkai, the rulers and soldiers of each countries are humans, so in short, humans are using the help of youkai in order to gain more power.  
Not that youkai like to be submissive, but they don't hate the idea of earning lots of money by killing fellow youkai and humans. In this period of war, money actually means power.

I hope I have made things clear enough for you to understand, if not I will edit the chapters or explain things in the next chapters ^-^

  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~

  
This story starts in a small town called Pali that lies at the border between the Eastern and Western Lands.

It all began when a baby girl was born in the small town. Her parents were happy and welcomed her with open arms into the real world. 

They gave the baby girl a name that's worthy of bearing their family name Higurashi. Her name was Kagome.

The Higurashi's were well known among the inhabitants of Pali, since they help other townspeople a lot. The whole town was happy to hear about their first-born child.

[AN: Kagome is not from the future, she's from the Feudal Age.]

But the joy and happiness around the birth soon perished as Kagome's hair started to grow on her bald little head.

~*~*~*~ 2 months have passed since the birth ~*~*~*

  
It was a clear day and the marketplace at the center of Pali were filled with stalls. It was crowded but very pleasant and enjoyable. Women were talking about their latest purchases and unemployed men were boasting about their adventures during hunts.

Two townswomen in particular, were talking about the latest gossip in town. They were standing at the grocery stall, which was less crowded so they could talk without raising their voices. One of them was quite lean and tall compared to the other, who was chubby and short. Both women were above the age of 40.  
The tall one had a crooked nose and a mole on her chin. She was dressed like an average housewife: a white headscarf on her head, covering the upper part of her straight light-brown hair; a white apron tied around her waist, over a simple mud-green dress with a U-shaped neckline.  
The chubby one also had white headscarf on her head, covering most of her short and curled dark brown hair. She wore a simple beige dress with a trapezoid-shaped neckline, with also a white apron tied around her waist over it.

"Hey, you know about the first born baby girl of the Higurashi's?" the tall one asked.

'Yes...why?" the chubby one replied.

"I saw her yesterday in the arms of the mother."

"Yeah, so...?"

"The baby girl has black raven hair!"

The other widened her eyes. "Oh my...you're kidding right?" 

"No! I saw it with my own eyes!"

"B-but the Higurashi's...their hair color are both gold!"

"Yeah, I know."

"Is that a bad omen?"

"I don't think so, but rumor say it might have been the forest elves."

"But that's just a fairytale to scare the children!!"

"Well...do you have any other explanation? Nobody of this town, not even in the nearby villages has raven black hair."

Being the two infamous gossip ladies, they've deliberately raised their voices to let nearby walking townspeople hear the conversation, in particular, townswomen.  
And soon, every townswomen at the marketplace gathered at the grocery stall and the conversation soon became a discussion. Even the woman behind the counter became curious and eavesdropped the discussion. They've automatically formed a small doughnut shaped crowd in front of the stall.

"Then, what about the mother? What is she going to do about that?" a young townswoman suddenly asked who stood in the most inner circle. This one had long straight and blond hair and wore a white dress embedded with blue flowers. She was obviously from the higher class. 

"Have you never heard about the fairytale?" a woman asked who stood next to her. She looked quite aged with her gray hair tied in a knot and her bent back. She had to look up to the young woman as she asked her.

"N-Not really, I've never been told the whole story." the young woman replied embarrassed. People of higher classes didn't need to be told such old woman fairytales. 

"Well, it goes like this..." the aged woman explained.

"Forest elves are known to be human eating black haired creatures that live in the forest. The elves' mothers know when human mothers are about to give birth. And as soon as they give birth, they will swap the human baby with one of their own, in order to steal a human baby, since they love the flesh of a newborn.  
And in order to make those elves give back the human baby, the parents should torture the elves' child as much as possible. Because like every mother, elves also can't bear it when their children get hurt and they'd probably give the human back."

"So...the mother is going to torture her until she gets her own baby back?" the young one asked.

"Yeah...probably." the chubby one replied.

"But that's too harsh...what if it's really hers?" 

The discussion ended as the sun started to set and all the women headed back home.

  
~*~*~*~

  
As the clock rang 8, the only one tavern of Pali was filled with exhausted townsmen who came together to drink and chat about their day. If you looked at Pali from above, the tavern would be the only house that still had lights burning at this time of the day.   
There were men sitting on benches at the low square tables near the windows and there were others standing around high round tables in the middle of the tavern. The tavern also had a wide rectangular counter near the wall with the bartender standing on one side and townsmen standing on the other side with their drinks on the counter. A huge cabinet was hanging on the wall behind the bartender, filled with all kinds of liquors of different colors.

Two men, who stood at the counter, took several glances once in a while at a young man that sat by the window.   
They both had dark brown hair and it was obvious that they were brothers since they looked alike. Both of them had brown eyes and a tan body color. The only differences were the clothes that they were wearing. The elder brother was dressed in a navy blue shirt and trunks. And the younger one was dressed in a black shirt and trousers.

The one that sat near the window had short blond hair, slightly curled, and sky blue eyes. He wore a dark blue shirt and black trousers. 

After a while, the brothers mumbled something to each other and approached him.

"Hey Ron! I've heard about your elves' daughter!" the elder brother said with a smirk.

Ron quickly looked up with an irritated expression. "What are you talking about?"

"My wife told me that she saw your raven black-haired daughter." he replied.

"So? What's that about Kagome being an elf?" Ron narrowed his eyes.

"Well, since you and your wife both have golden colored hair, rumors said that your daughter might have been swapped by the forest elves." he explained.

Ron's eyes flared with anger.

"If it's not the elves, your wife might have slept__" the younger one continued but before he could finish, he was already punched in the face. 

He lost his balance and fell backwards to the floor. As he collapsed, he hit a round table that stood behind him, causing it to flip over and fall on the floor.

*BAM*

The whole tavern suddenly became silent. And everybody's gazes shifted from the man on the floor to the man who hit him.

"Don't you EVER dare to insult my wife!!" Ron roared and walked towards the exit.

"Y-you bastard! You cannot deny it!! The whole town is talking about it and it will haunt you and you wife unless you do something about it!!" the man shouted as he crawled back on his feet with his hand covering his bleeding nose.

Ron didn't say anything else and left the tavern. He had always wanted to deny the idea that Kagome might be an elf, but now that everybody thinks that way, Ron had no choice but to take action.

-- At Higurashi's --

The house of the Higurashi's was quite big compared to others. You could see that it was a house owned by people of the higher classes. It had 2 floors, unlike the houses of people from lower classes, which only have a ground floor. Most of the furniture was made of wood and even the floor was made of wood. The kitchen and living room are located on the ground floor and the second floor consisted of Shira and Ron's bedroom, Kagome's bedroom and a bathroom.

Kagome's room wasn't any different than any other average baby rooms. Except for the brown floor made of wood, the walls are painted pastel blue and a white stationary cradle stood in the middle of the room. For the rest, there were toys for babies and cushions all over the floor.

[AN: It's not necessary to describe how other rooms look like because it's not important.]

Shira was playing blocks with Kagome in Kagome's bedroom while sitting on the floor until Ron bashed into the room.

Shira was a beautiful mother. She had beautiful blond hair that were slightly curled at the end and bottomless sky blue eyes that you could just stare at for hours. She was dressed in a beautiful blue yukata embedded with yellow flowers. 

"Shira! Get away from the monster!!" Ron shouted.

"W-what? B-but anata..." Shira stuttered, shocked to hear those words from her husband.

"Haven't you heard the rumor?! Kagome's an elf!!" he yelled.

"T-they're just rumors..." Shira picked Kagome up in her arms and stood up. "Y-You cannot expect me to throw her away or torture her!?" she cried and hugged Kagome closer. Kagome didn't know what was happening and started to play with Shira's silky blond hair.

Ron's eyes flared of anger. "Shira! Look at her!! Look at us!!!" he shouted as he grabbed Kagome out of her arms. Kagome winced at his loud voice and started to cry.

"We both have golden hair color and sky blue eyes!! And Kagome has raven BLACK hair and dark blue eyes!!"

"But I've never left her alone, how could the elves have swapped our baby?!" Shira yelled as she reached out for Kagome.

"Are you sure?" Ron asked suspiciously.

Shira suddenly stopped reaching. "I...there was one time...I left her alone in her cradle for a short moment...when she was only a week old." she said hesitated.

"Enough time to swap the babies, right?" he looked at his wife.

Shira averted her gaze. "B-but..."

"No but's! If we'll have to torture her in order to get our baby back, then so be it!" he growled and tightened his grip on Kagome.

Kagome started to cry even louder.

"NO!!" Shira cried as she fell on her knees in front of Ron, who stopped tightening his grip and looked at her.

"Onegai...that's too cruel!!" she begged as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Ron hated to see his wife cry but he hated the black-haired monster in his arms even more. "If you don't do it, I will." he muttered.

Shira looked up at him with even more tears in her eyes.

"But I will not torture her too strictly for your sake." he said with a cold voice and put the crying Kagome on the floor.

Shira slowly reached out for Kagome and hugged her close while she continued to sob.

Ron sighed and turned around to leave the room.

Shira watched her husband leave the room. After that, she held Kagome close to her and leaned her head on Kagome's tiny shoulder. "Gomen Kagome, please forgive me...I can't do anything against it..." she softly whispered.

Kagome stopped crying as soon as she was in the arms of her mother again. It was as if she understood what Shira said and she hugged her mother back.

[AN: It is strange that people in Japan can have blond hair (besides getting them painted hahaha), but I just wanted to emphasize how strange it is for Kagome to have black hair, it IS an AU fic... and there are a LOT of OOC-ness (Out Of Character) so... ^-^]

* * *

**Vocabulary:**  
**Anata:** Familiar way of saying 'you', often used by married couples, in this context it means 'dearest' or 'love'  
**Onegai:** I beg you 

  
Posted: 16 July 2003  
Last Edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tags problem)  
Spelling check: YES


	2. The outcast

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients into a new story. 

_Italic_: thoughts   
-- --: locations   
"...": spoken words   
~*~*~*~*~: time gap   
*...* : noises 

* * *

  


**AN ELVES' CHILD**   
  
-by Kittymui-  
  
**The outcast**

**Previously:**  
"But I will not torture her too strictly for your sake." he said with a cold voice and put the crying Kagome on the floor.  
Shira watched her husband leave the room. After that, she held Kagome close to her and leaned her head on Kagome's tiny shoulder. "Gomen Kagome, please forgive me...I can't do anything against it..." she softly whispered.  
Kagome stopped crying as soon as she was in the arms of her mother again. It was as if she understood what Shira said and she hugged her mother back. 

~*~ 

Eight years have passed since Kagome's birth. After Ron and Shira had decided to see Kagome as an elves' child, there wasn't a single day that Kagome could avoid being slapped by her father. Whenever she did something wrong or said something that she shouldn't have said, she would end up crying in her room with red cheeks. 

Shira, on the other hand, only made Kagome do chores, although she had decided to see Kagome as an elves' child, she couldn't bring herself to hit or scold her.

Ron and Shira didn't teach Kagome to write nor to read, but Kagome was smart enough to steal some books and documents and use them secretly to learn writing on her own. Kagome was only eight, but she knew that her parents hated her. She knew it, but never talked about it.  
Every time when she asked her parents about it, her mother would start crying and her father would slap her until blood was coming out of her mouth; saying that she shouldn't ever talk about it again.

Kagome never got the chance to wear pretty clothes again after that day eight years ago. She always had to wear like a maid: mud-green colored dress, white apron and white headscarf. Not that the Higurashi's have maids in their households, but Ron had deliberately bought Kagome those clothes. 

Whenever she walked down the streets of Pali after finishing her chores she would always end up crying alone in her own room.   
Townspeople muttered things and avoided her when they saw her. Mothers told their children never to pay any attention to the raven black-haired child nor play with her. Getting fed up with the looks of disgust coming from parents and averted gazes of children after eight long years, Kagome would now only go to the forest when she was allowed to go out. She didn't know why, but the forest seemed to give her the serenity she wanted. It wasn't hard to find one, because Pali was completely surrounded by trees except for several unpaved roads. That's why it was believable for the inhabitants of Pali that there were such things as forest elves.

Aged inhabitants said to have seen them. But young ones thought it was just a mythical figure from a fairytale until Kagome was born; a living proof of the existence of forest elves. Now everybody of Pali knows that Kagome's an elf except for herself....

One day Kagome finally decided to make herself a hiding place in the forest. She had somehow always yearned for a free life and survival by hunting.

~*~

Kagome was done with her chores. Like always, she was wearing a shabby mud green colored dress with a white apron over it. _Today is the day..._ she thought to herself. She asked her mother permission to go out before she untied her apron and headscarf and left them in her room. _I better bring along something to eat. _Kagome thought and quickly grabbed a bag and put some apples and a couple loaves of bread in it. She put on a pair of worn-out sandals and left the house quietly.  
If it weren't for her mother, Ron wouldn't even think that it was worthwhile to buy Kagome something to wear on her feet. 

After walking about half an hour, Kagome finally left the town. She didn't take the unpaved paths to walk on after that, because she didn't want to encounter people outside the town; inside the town was already hard enough. 

_I should search for an open area with water nearby to build my hideout._ Kagome thought as she walked through the forest. _That's strange...I've never really walked this deep into the forest...but somehow..._she thought puzzled as she automatically chose certain paths to take. _...I don't have the feeling of being lost_.

It was a thickly wooded forest; colorful flowers and bushes grew in it. Beautiful birds and graceful animals inhabited it. In short, it was full of life. Kagome just couldn't understand why the townsmen, and especially his father, could do something that cruel to these wonderful creatures, like hunting them for fun and pride.

Kagome pushed away some branches. _Why do I get the feeling that I've been here before? It's like I already know the way to the place where I want to be._

After a while, Kagome reached an open area with a creek running in the middle of it. The open area was almost round like a circle with a diameter of 12 meters and the creek, with several curves, was about 4 meters wide running almost in the middle of the circle. 

****************************  
*********##.....***************  
*******................oo..************  
****..........oooooo....###...**********  
***.......ooo..............##......##**********  
***....##....ooo..................#***********  
****...ooo....##........##....*X**********  
*******......###...........**************  
***********....****************  
***************************

* = trees  
. = fields of grass   
# = bushes  
o = creek  
X = Kagome's hideout.

  
"This is perfect!!" Kagome smiled and jumped in the air of happiness.

Kagome started to search for materials and made herself some weapons that she could use to hunt for food. She made herself a short knife of stone, a small bow and a couple of arrows with stone arrowheads. _This should do it. _Kagome thought pleased.   
Nobody taught her but it was as if her instincts told her how to make them. Kagome wondered why.

After finishing her weapons, Kagome looked up to the trees. _I think I should build one in a tree. _she concluded. _That way, it wouldn't be discovered easily._ With that, she started to gather materials for the hut in the tree.

Now and then, brown monkeys that live in trees would come out and watch the strange girl gather the materials that they would also gather to build their nests: reeds and branches. 

After she finished gathering, Kagome looked for a suitable tree to build the hut in. She looked up and around and stopped in front of a tall tree. _This one's nice._ she thought, looking up at a certain branch. _Let's see...it's about 15 meters above the ground...high enough. _ she concluded. _And there are enough leaves...wonderful camouflage for my hideout._ she smiled.

Kagome started on the floor of the hut first and began to tie up the branches and reeds with strong and long stalks of grass.

A tiny brown monkey approached Kagome while she was working. It was obviously just a baby monkey. Kagome looked up at the monkey and smiled. The monkey backed away a little. _Kawaii..._ she thought.

"Hey there, how are you?" Kagome said with a soft voice. Suddenly she remembered the food that she brought along with her and she searched through her bag. "Are you hungry little one?" she asked, stretching out her hand and offering an apple to the little monkey.

The monkey hesitated for a moment but approached the apple when he didn't sense any danger coming from Kagome. He took it and took several steps backwards. Kagome giggled and continued her work. 

~*~*~*~

  
The sun was already starting to set and Kagome was finally done with her hideout. It turned out to be a small hut up in a tree, made of strong branches and reeds. She also made a small balcony outside the hut.  
Kagome wiped the sweat drops on her forehead and looked around in her second home. _Good._ she thought contented as she pounded the floor several times with her feet and the walls with her hands. _And sturdy._ she smiled.

She was all dirty a right now, her dress was now literally 'mud'-green (AN: emphasizing the 'mud' part ^-^) and there was also dirt on her face.

She suddenly realized the time. _Oh my god! The sun is already setting!!_

Kagome quickly hid her weapons in the hideout, climbed off the tree and ran through the forest towards the town.

_It'll be bad if they started to look for me and discover my secret. _she thought as she ran through the streets.

[AN: Kagome doesn't have to worry about animals stealing her possessions, because she became friends with the monkeys by being nice to the baby monkey. So they are nice enough to guard her hut for her.]

  
-- Back to the house --

Kagome slowly closed the door but as soon as she turned around, a huge human form was standing in front of her. The person was already dressed in a blue sleeping outfit.

"Where the fuck have you been!?" Ron roared. "Do you know how late it is!?"

Kagome winced. "I..." she started but before she could finish, she was cut of by a sudden stinging pain on her cheek. 

*slap*

Kagome covered her red cheek. Tears were welling up in her eyes.

Ron scanned her from head to toe. "Look at you!! You're dirty!! Just like a beggar!!" he growled.

Kagome started to cry. "I...I just went out to play..." she sobbed.

"Enough!! Just wash yourself and lock yourself up in your room!!" he commanded.

Without saying anything else, Kagome obeyed her father and walked upstairs to the bathroom.

  
~*~*~*~

Kagome finished washing herself and walked towards her room. She was now dressed in a worn out dark blue thin nightdress.

Before she opened the door to her room, she suddenly heard her mother's voice in the hallway. Kagome listened carefully. _It's coming from their bedroom._ She realized and slowly walked to their door.

The door was opened a little bit and Kagome stood against the wall next to it.

  
-- In Shira and Ron's bedroom --

"Why are you so harsh towards Kagome? It's already been 8 years." Shira said with a sad voice. She was dressed in a pink nightgown and sitting on the edge of the bed.

_Mommy?_ Kagome thought as she sat down against the wall near the door.

"She's a monster, Shira!! I will never accept her!!' Ron yelled as he walked back and forth in the room. 'If she wasn't born, those forest monsters wouldn't swap her with our real baby!!'

_F-forest...monsters...?_

"She's still a child and besides, they have never picked her up again." Shira was still trying to persuade her husband.

_They? T-the forest m-monsters??_

"They must have already eaten our baby..." Ron spat. 

"But it doesn't matter anymore." he said as he sat down and looked at Shira's stomach.

"I will definitely not let those forest elves swap our little Souta with another one of their dirty children again" he said determined.

Kagome's eyes widened as she heard this. _Forest elves?! Swapped?? S-Souta??_

Shira looked at him. "Shouldn't we let Kagome know that she's going to have a baby brother?"

[AN: Don't ask why, but I just decided that they're definitely going to have a son mwuahaha :P]

"And have her comrades take him away like they did with our baby?" Ron cried angrily.

"W-well...I guess not..." Shira agreed submissively.

Tears started to well up in Kagome's eyes as she slowly stood up. _So that's why... _ She silently thought to herself as she strolled back to her room. _...that's why they hate me...I-I'm an elves child..._

  
-- In Kagome's room --

Kagome's room didn't changed much. The only difference was that all the baby stuff were replaced by a simple bed and a closet. It was a small room, about 3 by 3 meters.

She let herself fall on her bed and cried softly. _My real parents won't take me back to the forest... and mommy and daddy rather have me gone..._ She sobbed and buried her head in her pillow. _I-I'm...an...o-outcast..._

* * *

**Vocabulary:**  
**Kawaii:** Cute.

Posted: 17 July 2003  
Last Edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tags problem)  
Spelling check: YES 


	3. The silverhaired knight

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients into a new story.

**INTRODUCTION OF CHARACTERS IN THIS CHAPTER: **  
**Sesshoumaru:** A full-blooded dog youkai. He isn't the Lord of the Western Lands. As I said before, the kings and soldiers are all human. So the father of Sesshoumaru is only a powerful dog youkai. He still has both arms and only possesses the sword (fang) Toukijin. He find humans disgusting because of their hunger for power and greed, of course, he also despises youkai with the same traits.   
He is a mercenary who travels across the Western Lands. He's a quite well known mercenary for he has already conquered a lot of lands for the king of the Western Lands. He seems cold on the outside but he opens himself up for people he knows or people that he respects. Yeah... he's definitely Out Of Character, but what the hell, as long as he stays that handsome, don't you agree??? *drool drool*

_Italic_: thoughts   
-- --: locations   
"...": spoken words   
~*~*~*~*~: time gap   
*...* : noises

* * *

  


**AN ELVES' CHILD**

-by Kittymui-

  
**The silver-haired knight**

**Previously:**  
Tears started to well up in Kagome's eyes as she slowly stood up. _So that's why... _ She silently thought to herself as she strolled back to her room. _...that's why they hate me...I-I'm an elves child..._   
She let herself fall on her bed and cried softly. _My real parents won't take me back to the forest... and mommy and daddy rather have me gone..._ She sobbed and buried her head in her pillow. _I-I'm...an...o-outcast..._

~*~ 

Kagome had kept quiet and had never showed that she knew about her mother's pregnancy. She would pretend not to know anything whenever she was punished by her father because of not being careful around Shira. It was obvious that Ron was overly protective of his unborn son.  
Kagome had tried to convince herself to accept her baby brother and she did...until the day he was born.

Sky blue eyes; her father was indeed proud and relieved. He became even more proud and happy when the blond curls started to grow on his tiny head. 

Ever since that day, Ron wouldn't even waste a minute to look at Kagome, except when he was punishing her. Whenever Souta started to cry and Kagome would coincidentally be near him, she could not avoid being punished by her father. 

The punishments became crueler as Souta's wailing grew louder. Before Souta was born, Kagome would at most be slapped, but now, besides slapping, he would also kick her, throw her against a wall or hit her with hard objects. And her mother would do nothing but watch.  
Kagome even had to give up her room and sleep in the living room because of her so-called little brother. 

She hated it, but there was nothing that she could do about it.

  
~*~*~*~

  
Another eight years have passed and Kagome was now 16 years old. Kagome had tried to accept her origin and live with it. But as she grew up and became more sensible, the question about her true origin haunted her even more than before. Since she had nobody to ask or talk about it, she just neglected the question and lived on.

In spite of everything, she had gradually become stronger since the moment she knew about her on fairytale-based origin and since the moment Souta was born. She wouldn't wince or cry anymore when Ron scolded, slapped or even when he punished her cruelly. Whenever she wanted to cry, she would save it and cry out loud in her hideout. She didn't want to show other people her weak side, because she knew people would pick on her even more.

During these 16 years, she avoided contact with other townspeople as much as possible; since they had always did the same towards her for 16 years. She didn't talk to other people, except for her parents but only when she had to answer questions or acknowledge things. If animals and birds knew human language, they would surely know more about Kagome's life and feelings than any other human except Kagome herself.

Kagome despised her parents. She hated her father because he never saw her as his daughter and for hitting her all the time. She hated her mother because of her obedience towards her husband and because she didn't even try to do something against the will of him.   
But most of all, she hated her little brother, Souta. First because of the golden colored hair that grew on his head and his sky-blue eyes. It emphasized the fact that her parents hated her because of her black hair and dark blue eyes.

Second and most of all, because he was terribly spoiled, yes he was. Ron bought him everything he wanted and took him wherever he wanted to go.   
Souta was also very sly. Kagome didn't know when he started to be like that. Ron had always told Souta not to talk to her, but he would always disobey him and bother her with all sorts of questions, which would seem innocent on the outside but were meant offensively. He would ask questions like:  
"Why is your hair black, onee-san?",  
"Why are you sleeping on the couch all the time, onee-san?",  
"Aren't you getting tired of doing the chores all the time, onee san?"   
and the most sliest of all:  
"I wonder what kind of punishment daddy would give you today...onee-san."

No matter how hard Kagome tried to avoid these questions, by ignoring him or just avoiding him, Souta would always end up wailing and running towards Ron and lie about Kagome teasing him. Ron would believe him and not listen to Kagome and start punishing her.

That's why Kagome found it preferably to be away from home as much as possible. She rather spends an hour staring at the fishes in the creek near her hideout than face her so-called family for one second. Whenever she finished her chores, Kagome would go back to her hideout in the forest and spend the rest of the day there. Hunting, singing, sleeping, she did whatever she wanted to do.

  
~*~*~*~

  
It was afternoon and Kagome was sitting on the edge of the creek with her feet in the streaming water. _I wonder when I'll be able to leave that horrible town and have a life that I want._ she wondered as she looked at the colorful fishes that swam past her feet. She was wearing a worn out light blue colored dress that covered her legs to her knees, it had a V-shaped neckline and a white ribbon tied around the waist.

Suddenly she heard leaves rustling and voices coming near. Kagome quickly got her feet out of the creek, grabbed her sandals and jumped into the bushes near the creek and grabbed the short knife in her hands.

Three men came out from behind the trees into the open area.   
The first one was quite tall and broad. He had brown hair tied tightly in a short ponytail on the back of his head and a brown beard, covering most of the lower part of his rough face. It was a thick beard, but not a long one. He had a tan skin color and scars could be seen all over his bare arms, since he was wearing a sleeveless (red) shirt. Below the shirt, he was wearing dark brown pants that were torn at several places. It was quite obvious that the man's age was around above the 40 and the eldest of the three. He was also wearing a sheathed knife around his waist. In his hand, he held a bunch of dead rabbits.

The second one was a little bit shorter than the first one but just as broad and rough and had a scar on the left side of his face. It was an almost perfect vertical line running from his brown eyebrow to his cheek. Surprisingly enough, the person or thing that caused the scar had not damaged his left eye at all. He was also tanned and wore a tight blue shirt with short sleeves to his elbows and white pants. This one was wearing a quiver on his back and held a bow in his hand.

The last one was the shortest of the three and didn't look as rough as the first two. He was obvious the youngest of them all. His hair was short and slightly curled. He wore a green shirt with long sleeves and white trunks. There were fresh shallow cuts on his bare legs.  
For the rest, they look pretty much the same: brown hair and eye color, big nose, big eyes. _They look like brothers to me._ Kagome thought to herself as she watched the three men approaching the spot where she was hiding. 

_What the hell are they doing here? I've been here for eight years an never were there hunters passing this area._ Kagome thought, slightly panicked.

"Wow! This is really a nice spot to relax!!" the youngest one yelled happily. They sat down about 1 meter away from the bushes where Kagome was hiding. The oldest of the three threw the rabbit bodies on the grass and sat down. He was the closest one near Kagome.

_They're hunters..._ Kagome thought as she looked at the corpses. _It'll be bad if they caught me..._ she thought and slowly backed away, gripping her knife tightly.

Unfortunately she stepped on a small twig as she took a step backward.

*crack*

The oldest one jumped up. "What was that!?!" he yelled.

Just when Kagome was about the run away, a strong hand caught her upper arm. When Kagome looked up, she saw that the oldest one was holding her.

"Hey y'all! Look what I've found!!" he cried out to his brothers and looked at Kagome again. 

"A cute little deer ya found, ol' brother." the youngest brother chuckled as his eyes scanned Kagome from head to toe.

_Chikusho!!_ Kagome cursed in her mind as she struggled under the rough man's grip. 

"Yup, and she's all mine," the man smirked as he pushed Kagome down to the grass. "you better behave, little gal, or I might hurt you.' he commanded.

Kagome didn't care about anything else except for getting away from this huge man that reeked of sweat and alcohol. She began to struggle. "Get off of me, you stinking bastard!!" she cried and managed to injure the arm of the man with her knife.

"Oowww!!! You freakin'..." the bearded man cried as he took a step backwards. He turned to his brothers. "You guys! Hold her down!!" he cried angrily.

Kagome wanted to escape after the man released his grip on her, but she was forced to the grass once again by the other two brothers. Each one held down one of her arms and legs. One of them smacked the knife out of her hand.

The bearded man approached her again. "A feisty little gal, aren't ya?!" he smirked as his gaze switched from the cut on his arm to Kagome's furious expression. "I'm afraid I'll have to hurt ya for what ya did to my arm."

He settled himself on top of her. "I was thinking of being gentle to you, but now I've changed my mind!" he growled as he ripped open her clothes at the neckline, so that her chest was showing. Since it was a V-shaped neckline, ripping it open would be the first tempting thing to do. 

"Get off of me!! You monsters!! Don't you dare touch me!!!" she cried out. "Somebody help me!!!"

The man couldn't take his eyes off of her bare chest and started to drool. "This is going to be fun..." he chuckled as he lowered his head to her neck.

Kagome quickly averted her gaze and closed her eyes as the beard touched her skin. _What am I crying out for help for...there's nobody who would hear or save me._ she thought disappointed and disgusted at the same time.

Kagome waited for the disgusting bastard to touch her, but nothing came. She slowly opened her eyes and turned to look at the man that was on top of her. 

_Eh?!_ Kagome thought puzzled as she saw blood coming out of his mouth, dripping off his beard and landing on her chest.

Within a flash, the man was thrown aside. Kagome looked up while the other two men, who had shocked looks on their faces, were still holding her down.

A person stood in front of Kagome, just about a meter away. By his appearance, Kagome knew this person was a male youkai. His right arm was stretched out lengthways his shoulder and almost pointing at the motionless body of the oldest brother that lay on the grass in a distance. His with blood-tainted claw glowed a green light for a little while before it faded. 

The two men looked at the motionless body of their brother. "Kuso yaro!! How can you kill him!?" the one with the tattoo cried.

Kagome could feel their hands trembling as they still held her upper arm. 

The youkai slowly withdrew his outstretched arm and let it be suspended next to his waist. The blood slowly trickled downward on his claw and dripped off of the tip of his long nails as his gaze shifted from Kagome to the brothers.

There were no expressions to be seen on his face. The only place that held emotions was in his golden eyes. And right now, they were filled with disgust as the reflections of the brothers could be seen in them.  
If gazes could kill, they would already be dead by now. 

"Kiete." the youkai said with a calm voice.

The two men quickly released Kagome and ran away. "You'll pay for this!!!" one of the cried before disappearing into the trees.

Kagome slowly sat up, pulling back the torn clothes and covering her chest with her hands. Her heart was still beating very fast. She slowly looked up at the youkai that saved her from being raped.

He had long silver-white colored hair and golden colored eyes. On his forehead there was a crescent moon mark, and covering each cheek near his ears were two parallel sets of dark marks. He was wearing a white haori with long sleeves and a white hakama; he also wore armor over it. A yellow sash was tied around his waist. She wasn't quite sure but the white fluffy thing that hung over his shoulder kind of looked like a tail. The youkai was wearing a sword at the side of his waist. 

_A-an inuyoukai?_ Kagome thought to herself as she stared at the youkai. She had seen them in books about youkai but she had never expected to see one in real life.

_I wonder if he'll kill me too. _Kagome thought, a bit scared. When the youkai raised his hands, Kagome slightly twitched of shock and started to push herself backwards by pushing the ground with her legs [AN: She's still sitting on the grass, remember?]. The silver-haired youkai was searching his sleeve for something and Kagome wasn't really planning to wait until he pulled out some sort of weapon to attack her. 

But Kagome stopped backing away when she saw that he was actually pulling out a rectangular white cloth with a size of about 2 by 3 meters.   
Kagome froze as the youkai started to walk towards her. _What is he planning to do?_ Kagome wondered.

[AN: Don't ask questions about the size of the youkai's sleeves and where it came from, okay? He just had it in his sleeve by chance and yes it fitted in his sleeve.]

When the youkai was about 1 meter away from her, he stopped and offered Kagome the cloth he held in his hand.

"Wash yourself, you smell like him." he said with a calm voice.

Kagome first didn't know what he meant but when she looked down at her chest and clothes that was stained with the blood of the man that tried to rape her, she understood. She gave the youkai a slight nod and took the cloth politely out of his hand.

When Kagome turned to walk towards the creek, she saw out of the corner of her eye that the youkai was following her and walking a little behind and beside her. Kagome quickly stopped and turned around to the youkai and gave him a suspicious look. 

Kagome was surprised that the youkai gave her an indifferent look and just walked passed her towards the creek. She turned around, only to see the youkai kneeling down to the creek. _What is he doing??_ Kagome thought as she started to walk towards the creek. She knelt down about 3 meters away from the youkai and watched.

The youkai was washing his claw, which was stained with the blood of the hunter, with the clean water of the creek.

A small smile appeared on Kagome's face as she watched the youkai. _Baka, why would a youkai waste his effort and soil his claws with blood to save you, say that you reek of dirty human blood and offer you a cloth to wash yourself with, if he wanted to kill you?_ she smacked herself in her mind.

"Gomen." Kagome said with a small voice as she continued to watch the youkai.

The youkai stopped washing his hands and looked up without pulling his hands out of the water. He gave her a look of slight puzzlement.

"For misunderstanding your intention." Kagome added.

Sesshoumaru didn't show any emotions on his face before he looked down and started to wash his hands again. "Wash yourself." he said without looking up at her again.

Kagome stood up. _Oh I almost forgot. _ She giggled in her mind, looking down at the white cloth that she was still holding.

She quickly turned around and walked towards the nearby bushes to undress herself. Fortunately, her bra and underpants weren't stained. _ I could wear them again after washing myself and cover my body with the cloth until the dress is dried. _ Kagome thought relieved. 

The bushes were near enough to prevent the youkai from seeing her naked body when she climbed into the creek.  
Kagome started to wash her chest and the part of her dress that was stained with blood. The creek was quite deep in spite of its size. Kagome was standing in the creek with the water at the height of her shoulders. She had her back turned to the youkai as she was washing herself and her dress.

  
~*~

  
She didn't notice the youkai had finished washing his hands and was watching her. 

_Why did she apologize...? Misunderstanding my intention...?_ he wondered. _ What was my intention anyway? Why did I save her?_

He continued to watch her. _Quite beautiful for a human..._ he thought but immediately shook off the idea he cursed himself for thinking that way._ What am I thinking? She doesn't even smell like a human...she wears the smell of human on her body, but it's intermingled with another scent._   
As the girl continued to wash herself, her scent became gradually purer. The youkai sniffed the air soundlessly. _It's like she's the forest herself...the scent of waterfalls and spring... _

He almost dozed off of the scent but quickly came to his senses again. He narrowed his eyes. _Maybe she's a witch...she might have cast a spell on me to seduce me or something like that._ He thought as he stood up, without taking his eyes off of her back. He saw that the girl had finished washing and had hid herself behind the bushes again.

_I shouldn't stay around her too long, or I might really fall into her trap._ He thought cautiously and turned around to walk away.

  
~*~

Kagome finished washing herself and quickly hid herself behind the bushes again after she climbed out of the water. She put on her underwear again, covered her body with the cloth and wrung out the wet and clean dress. She laid it on the grass to dry in the sun.

As she did that, she saw that the youkai had turned around and was walking towards the trees.

Kagome stared at her feet, but looked up as she saw that the youkai turned around and was starting to leave. 

"Machinasai!!" she yelled as she ran to him.

The youkai stopped walking, but didn't turn around.

"May I ask the name of this youkai who saved me?" Kagome asked, clutching the white cloth that covered her nearly naked body from her chest to her knees.

"It does not matter." the youkai simply replied.

"It does to me..." Kagome said with a sad voice.

He noticed the sad tone in her voice and looked over his shoulder. His eyes widened as he saw the sad expression on the girl's face. He turned partly to Kagome so that his shoulder was pointing at her. She was staring at the floor, trying to hide her sad look. 

"Sesshoumaru." he suddenly spoke.

Kagome looked up and gave him a puzzled look.

"This youkai standing in front of you is called Sesshoumaru." he repeated plainly.

Kagome's sad expression softened and she gave him a gentle smile. "I'm Kagome, nice to meet you, Sesshoumaru." 

Sesshoumaru became even more cautious when he saw the smile on her face. _She's being polite to a youkai??!_ he thought startled. 

"Aren't humans supposed to be afraid of youkai?" he asked with a low voice. He gave Kagome a suspicious look as he asked her the question. He already knew the answer to his question; humans are indeed terrified of youkai. But this girl didn't smell like a human so part of the question's intention was to lure the admission of her being a witch out of her mouth. 

At least, that's what Sesshoumaru thought she was going to admit to be.

  
At first, Kagome couldn't find her voice to answer him. _Afraid of him? I was...a while ago...but the fear disappeared soon after I realized he wasn't going to kill me. I wonder why..._ Kagome asked herself in her mind.

_Is it...because I'm not human? I've never thought about it...but maybe forest elves are youkai too._ Kagome wondered, looking at her hands. _But I don't look like a youkai...I don't even have fangs or long nails or something like that..._ she battled in her mind.

After a moment of silence, Sesshoumaru sighed and was about to forget the question, until Kagome suddenly breathed deeply. [AN: For those who are puzzled, it was a signal that Kagome was about to reply ^-^.]

"Maybe..." she started, averting her gaze. "...maybe it's because I'm not human."

_Finally decided to cough up huh?_ Sesshoumaru smirked in his mind. "Then what are you?" he asked plainly.

Kagome hesitated for a while. _What am I exactly...? Am I really a forest elf? _she wondered. 

"I don't know..." she replied. 

Sesshoumaru gave her an annoyed look and was about to turn around again, until Kagome halted him by pulling his sleeve. "Please do not misunderstand me..." she said. "it's not that I don't want to tell you...but..."

She looked up at him. "Maybe you know...you're a youkai, right? Maybe you can find out what I am..." Kagome said with a voice full of desperation.

_I wonder if he'll listen to my story and help me find my answer..._ Kagome thought to herself.

Sesshoumaru first gave her a cautious look. _She wants my help to find out what her origin is...??_ Sesshoumaru thought startled as he looked in her eyes. _But her eyes..._ He narrowed his eyes and looked more carefully into her dark blue eyes. _...are filled with honesty and desperation...and...genuine sadness??   
T-they're beautiful eyes..._ he thought as he sank into the depths of her eyes. _...it's like there is no bottom in it..._

Sesshoumaru quickly averted his gaze in order to get his senses back together. _What am I doing?! I still don't know what she might do, although she said not to know about her origin..._ he thought cautiously. 

Kagome's face dropped when she saw Sesshoumaru averting his gaze. _He...he's not going to listen..._ she thought disappointed.

Suddenly she heard him clear his throat and she looked up at him again.

"I'll listen." he said with a clear voice as he looked at Kagome again.

  
~*~*~*~

Kagome told Sesshoumaru about her birth and about how the people of Pali, especially her parents, had started to despise her because of her raven black hair that resembled the hair color of the forest elves. She also told her about her feelings towards the woods and forests; that she felt save whenever she was between the trees and that she knew the path through the forest when she entered it for the first time.

Sesshoumaru listened patiently as they sat on the grass next to each other, facing the creek.

  
~*~*~*~

When Kagome finished her story, everything became silent except for the soothing sounds of rustling trees and streaming water.

Kagome was facing the creek as she finished. And Sesshoumaru too.

"I don't think I can help you." Sesshoumaru suddenly started, without looking away from the creek.

Kagome pulled up her knees to her chest, threw her arms around them en leaned her chin on her knees. Her expression saddened as she was still facing the creek.

Sesshoumaru felt slightly guilty for saying such harsh words after hearing her tragic story. 

_What am I feeling guilty for? She could be making it all up!!_ he thought as he turned his head and looked at her. 

He saw her saddened expression. _How could someone who make up such tragic story, have such genuine sadness written all over her face and in her eyes?!_ his instincts told him.

_She could be using magic or something like that, ya know?_ His mind warned.

_Oh shut up...if she can use magic, she would have massacred the whole town if she wanted to._

_You don't want to be nice to her, I tell ya!_

_SHUT UP! For once he's not going to listen to you and let ME guide him, I tell YOU!!_

Before his conscience finished arguing, Sesshoumaru already spoke before he even knew it. 

"You don't smell like a youkai."

Kagome quickly lifted her head up and looked at him, surprised by his sudden remark.

Sesshoumaru didn't look back at her, he only stared at the creek. "You don't smell like a human either." he added.

Kagome only gave him a look of puzzlement. _What is he trying to say...?_ she wondered desperately. _Can't he give me some more clues?_

Sesshoumaru finally turned to look straight in her face. He saw the questions in her eyes. 

"You..." he continued as he sniffed the air. "...smell like the forest...like waterfalls and spring."

Kagome didn't know what she had to conclude of his answer, but she knew he wasn't lying. _The forest...waterfalls and spring...? Do I seek more than this answer...? _ Kagome mused as she averted her gaze. She shook her head slightly. _No...it's already enough..._

Sesshoumaru saw her eyes lit up before she averted her gaze. His gaze followed her when she suddenly stood up and looked down at him.

"Thank you." she said with a soft voice. "Your answer has already fulfilled my desire to know."

Sesshoumaru was surprised by her gratitude. _She's thanking me...?_ His thoughts were cut off when he saw Kagome turn around and walk away.

"Where are you going?" Sesshoumaru asked.

"The sun is going to set soon, if I don't hurry home, I'll be punished again. I thank you for saving me today and for listening to my story." Kagome replied plainly, without looking around and she continued to walk away. _I guess he's pushing himself to stay beside me...I shouldn't be bothering him anymore..._

Sesshoumaru looked up at the sky. He didn't really notice before but the sun was indeed setting and the sky was colored purplish blue and a little orange.

Sesshoumaru watched Kagome as she disappeared into the trees. He suddenly cursed himself. _What the hell am I sitting here for? She could be attacked again..._

_What do I care?_

_Well, she isn't a witch and didn't curse you or put a spell on you. And she was grateful for your measly cues. Yet you had to made her feel uncomfortable. If you're a man, you would at least walk her home, you idiot!!_

Without thinking anything else Sesshoumaru stood up and dashed into the direction in which Kagome disappeared.

When he finally saw her back. He jumped into the air and landed in front of her, startling Kagome.

"It's dangerous to walk alone, let me escort you home." he said plainly as he walked beside her.

"Thank you." Kagome smiled at him gently and continued to walk again. Sesshoumaru picked up her pace and walked next to her.

  
~*~*~*~

After half an hour, they've finally reached Pali. Sesshoumaru and Kagome were standing in the middle of the marketplace.

"Thank you for escorting me, it's okay now, I can walk home by myself." Kagome smiled. "It'll be bad if people were to discover a youkai hanging around in this town."

"Are you sure?" Sesshoumaru asked.

Kagome nodded. "Thank you for caring." With that, she turned around and walked away.

Sesshoumaru watched her figure disappear into the night. _Strange girl...really strange and interesting girl..._ he thought amused before he turned around and disappeared into the darkness.

~*~*~*~ At night ~*~*~*~

-- In Kagome's room --

Kagome kept staring at the ceiling and thought about the youkai that rescued her this afternoon.

_I wonder if I'll ever get to meet him again?_ she wondered. _ Today was the first time that I've had a real conversation._

_Although he was a youkai, he at least listened patiently to my whole story..._ Kagome thought to herself. 

An image of Sesshoumaru standing in front of her this afternoon, after he threw the body of the bastard away, appeared in her mind. _He was just like a knight in shining armor, only without the horse. _She giggled by the thought. _A silver-haired knight..._

Kagome turned to her side and fell into a deep sleep, hoping to see him again in her dreams.

~*~*~*~ five days later ~*~*~*~

Five days had passed since Kagome was rescued by Sesshoumaru and there hadn't been a single day that Kagome didn't think of him. She had hoped everyday, to meet him again in the forest at the open area when she finished her chores, but each day ended with disappointment as he didn't appear anymore.

  
Kagome was doing her chores until her mother came to her with a basket in her hand. "Kagome, could you go to the marketplace for me and get me some eggs?" Shira asked, handing Kagome the basket.

Kagome didn't answer, she only took the basket out of her hand and walked out of the door.

When Kagome walked pass the streets towards the marketplace, she saw huge masses of townswomen running towards the church. _What's going on? Why is everybody hurrying towards the church?_ But Kagome shook her head. _It must be someone's marriage or something like that... it doesn't concern me._ And she continued her way to the marketplace.

At the stall where Kagome was going to buy the eggs her mother needed, she saw the two gossip ladies standing nearby. They were the meager tall and chubby short one who started the rumor about Kagome. They stood close together and they both were carrying a basket filled with groceries and eggs.   
Kagome tried to ignore them, but she just couldn't help to eavesdrop their conversation.

"Hey!! Have you heard? The townsmen have put up an ambush and succeeded in capturing a youkai a couple of days ago." the tall one asked the other.

"Why would they suddenly capture a youkai?" the chubby one asked puzzled.

"I've heard that the youkai killed one of the townsmen and the brothers of the deceased went to ask other townsmen to help them capture this youkai." she explained.

Kagome's attention was fully captured by the conversation. _A townsman got killed...the brothers wanted revenge? Why does this sound so familiar?_ she wondered.

"The youkai was very hard to handle since it was full blooded. They've almost used all of the townsmen in order to catch him." she continued. "I also heard that it was a very handsome inu-youkai."

Something suddenly struck Kagome. _Inuyoukai!? S-Sesshoumaru?!?_

"What are they going to do with him?"

"They're planning to hold the trial at high-noon in front of the church."

Kagome's eyes widened and she dropped her basket to the floor, causing the eggs to shatter all over the floor. She didn't care about anything else, she only knew she had to go to the church as soon as possible. _T-the church..._

_Onegai...kami-sama, please don't let it be him..._ she begged in her mind as she ran as fast as she could towards the church.

[AN: Sesshoumaru is very powerful indeed as a full-blooded youkai and there is no way for townspeople to be able to capture him. But on the other hand, how can you continue to live as a mercenary or free youkai if there's a bounty put on your wanted head because of a crime that you've committed?]

* * *

**Vocabulary:**  
**Chikusho:** Damn it.  
**Kiete:** Imperative, meaning 'Disappear' (euhm don't really know if this is correct, tell me if it's wrong ok?)  
**Kuso yaro:** Very impolite way to address somebody; loosely equivalent to 'you asshole'  
**Baka:** Stupid  
**Gomen:** I'm sorry  
**Inuyoukai:** Dog-demon  
**Machinasai:** Wait!! (imperative)  
**Onegai: **I beg you/ Please  
**Kami-sama:** God

Posted: 20 July 2003   
Last Edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tags problem)  
Spelling check: Yes 


	4. The execution

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients into a new story.

_Italic_: thoughts   
-- --: locations   
"...": spoken words   
~*~*~*~*~: time gap   
*...* : noises

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **  
  
It won't be told in the story why Kagome could plead for Sesshoumaru's life and marry in order to save his life. I will give you the explanation here in the author's note.

As I told you before this story is based on a book. The story in that book took place in the Middle Ages, somewhere around 1480 in The Netherlands. And in that age and place, it was possible for unmarried women to save a man's life, when he's going to be executed, by marrying him. I'm not really sure why that's possible; maybe it's a tradition or culture of that age. 

I hope I have cleared some questions by explaining this.

* * *

  


**AN ELVES' CHILD**

-by Kittymui-

  
**The execution**

**Previously: **  
"They're planning to execute him at high-noon in front of the church."  
_Onegai...kami-sama, please don't let it be him..._ she begged in her mind as she ran as fast as she could towards the church.

  
~*~

The execution site was crowded. Most of the spectators were townswomen, since they were all curious about the handsome inuyoukai.

The church looked very medieval. It had a form of a cross if you looked at it from above. The top part of the cross was facing the audience. It was made of gray bricks and huge colorful rectangular leaded windows in the side walls of the church and a round leaded window could be seen in the wall above the huge wooden doors of the church.  
A wooden platform stood in front of the huge wooden doors of the church. It was square and just as high as the waists of the audience.

Two persons stood on the platform. One of them was obviously the executioner. He was masked and was dressed in pitch-black. The other one was dressed in a wide black robe, it was the judge.

"Bring out the scoundrel!!" the judge shouted after he looked at the sky. 

The church doors opened a little and a soldier appeared with a chain in his hands. "Come out, you murderer!" the soldier spat as he yanked the chain. A person obediently came from behind the doors into the daylight.

The crowd became silent as the sun revealed the silver-haired inuyoukai. His claws were chained together on his back and his legs were chained at a way that he could walk by himself. 

All of the townswomen gasped at the sight of the young youkai.

~*~

Sesshoumaru cursed himself for being so submissive and slowly walked out of the church. His clothes and armor were confiscated as soon as he was captured. He was now dressed in some dirty ragged clothes. His fluffy tail still hung over his shoulder.

He had to jerk his head to the side and close his eyes for a moment because of the bright daylight.

As soon as his eyes got used to the light, he opened them and looked around. He was definitely not enjoying attention that the spectators were giving him.

Townswomen were staring at him with dropped jaws and men were giving him the glares of disgust mixed with fear.

_Disgusting humans..._ he thought disgusted. _If only I had my sword with me right now..._

The soldier yanked the chain once more and took Sesshoumaru out of his thoughts. He led him up to the platform and kicked his back; forcing him to kneel in front of the judge.

Sesshoumaru quickly glared at the soldier who kicked him and growled, but his attention turned back to the judge when he began to speak.

"Give me your name, scoundrel." he commanded with a low voice.

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes as he kept his face down. "Sesshoumaru." he answered, while grinning in his mind. _Just you wait, insolent fool, you'll be the first one to taste my claws..._

All of the townspeople gasped at hearing this well-known name.

"Sesshoumaru," the judge continued. "you are under the suspicion of killing a townsman without reason, do you admit to your crime?"

Hate filled the eyes of Sesshoumaru as he looked up to the judge. "If he had not tried to rape a young innocent girl, I, Sesshoumaru, would not have to taint my claws with his dirty blood." Sesshoumaru spat. "Yes, I have killed him."

The crowd became disturbed.

Ignoring the first part of the youkai's story, the judge shushed the noisy crowd and spoke.

"Then you are hereby pronounced guilty and you will be beheaded on the spot." the judge declared and turned to the executioner. "Executioner, prepare the axe."

Sesshoumaru knew he couldn't get away with this no matter what reason he gave, since all human feared youkai and rather have them dead. But he would definitely not let himself be killed unfairly.

_I wonder if she's standing there..._ he thought as he scanned the crowd.

  
~*~*~*~

Kagome finally reached the execution site.

There he was, kneeling in front of the judge. Kagome intermingled with the crowd and listened to the judgment.

Kagome couldn't believe the ignorance that the judge showed towards Sesshoumaru's reason. _He's sentencing him to death without thinking twice..._ Kagome thought angrily.

Kagome dropped her face. _The only person who cares about my existence is going to be executed because of me...what can I do?_ she thought as tears welled up in her eyes.

_I feel so helpless...so powerless..._

Her ears twitched as she caught a conversation.

"Such a pity to execute a handsome youkai like that..." the one said to the other.

"What are you saying!? He's a murderer!!" the other one replied.

Kagome recognized the voices. _The same women from a while ago!_ she thought and listened more carefully.

"Yeah, but it doesn't hurt to have him serve me whenever my husband's out of town..." 

Kagome's eyes flared with anger when she heard them giggle and jerked her head to where the voices came from.

The two women didn't notice Kagome and continued their conversation.

"Your husband would kill you if he heard you saying that."

"I'm only joking you know..."

"I know...but you're right, it is indeed a pity." the other woman replied. "Too bad I'm a married woman, or else I would definitely jump on the platform and plead for his life."

Kagome's eyes widened as she suddenly remembered something Ron told her a couple of years ago.

[FLASHBACK]

Kagome was lying on the floor, her hand covering a red and stinging cheek. She didn't sob or cry, she was only staring at the person who hit her with eyes filled with hatred.

Ron smirked. "Keh! I know you hate me." he spat. "And I know you want to get out of this house as soon as possible."

"But you know you can only be free when you get married." he grinned wickedly, turning around. "But I'm afraid no one will have you unless someone wants to escape a death sentence or something like that when you plead for his life." he snickered.

[END FLASHBACK]

Kagome looked at Sesshoumaru, he seemed to be looking for something in the crowd. _Plead for his life by marrying him?_ she thought to herself. 

_C-can I do it?_ she hesitated._ B-but he's a youkai...and I'm..._

Her conscience battled each other as she tried to make her way through the crowd, to the platform.

  
~*~*~*~

Sesshoumaru was disappointed when he couldn't find those beautiful dark blue eyes he searched for and bowed his head to the wooden stand.

_I guess it's better this way since it's going to be a massacre in a couple of minutes._ Sesshoumaru smirked.

The executioner raised the huge axe. "See you in hell, monster." he muttered.

_The hell I will..._ Sesshoumaru thought as he tensed his claws that were chained and resting on his back.

"Stop the execution!! I plead for his life!!!" a voice suddenly yelled out of the crowd.

Sesshoumaru's ears twitched. _This voice...!!_

"Executioner, hold your axe!!" the judge commanded. The executioner lowered his axe and backed away.

"Who said to be pleading for his youkai's life?" the judge turned to the crowd. "Come out of the crowd and show yourself."

The crowd dissipated at a certain spot, leaving a girl standing alone in the middle.

Sesshoumaru was allowed to get up again and he slowly raised his head.

His eyes widened when he realized who the girl was that was revealed after the crowd backed away.

_This can't...she couldn't be the one pleading for my life..._ Sesshoumaru thought in disbelief. His eyes were locked on the dark blue ones.

"I did." the girl spoke clearly and determined. She smiled at Sesshoumaru. "I plead for this youkai's life."

Sesshoumaru was even more astonished.

"Young lady, please come closer." the judge said.

The girl approached the platform and climbed on it. Sesshoumaru didn't take his eyes of the girl and watched her walk towards the judge.

"You are sure about this?" the judge asked.

The girl nodded. 

"Pleading for his life means that you are willing to be bound with him, you are aware of that, aren't you?" he explained clearly, afraid that the girl was making a mistake.

The girl nodded again and turned to look at Sesshoumaru.

She gave him a gentle smile and said with a clear voice. "I, Kagome Higurashi, wish to plead for this youkai, no, Sesshoumaru's life and am willing to marry him."

* * *

**Vocabulary:**  
**Inuyoukai:** Dogdemon

Posted: 21 July 2003  
Last Edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tags problem)  
Spelling check: Yes 


	5. Saved by an angel

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients into a new story.

_Italic_: thoughts   
-- --: locations   
"...": spoken words   
~*~*~*~*~: time gap   
*...* : noises

* * *

  


**AN ELVES' CHILD**

-by Kittymui-

  
**Saved by an angel**

**Previously:**  
The girl nodded again and turned to look at Sesshoumaru.  
She gave him a gentle smile and said with a clear voice. "I, Kagome Higurashi, wish to plead for this youkai, no, Sesshoumaru's life and am willing to marry him." 

[AN: In case you might be wondering, Kagome is dressed in a ragged gray dress with a V-shaped neckline and wearing a white half apron over it. What I mean with a 'half apron' is that the apron isn't tied around her neck like normal nowadays aprons, but it's tied around her waist only. An apron that starts from her waist to her knees, get the picture? ^-^]

Sesshoumaru's jaw almost dropped as he heard Kagome's words. _She...she is willing to marry me in order to save me??_ he thought astonished.

"What is your age, Kagome?" the judge asked.

"I'm 16 years old, Your Honor" Kagome replied politely.

"Old enough to marry," the judge pondered. "do your parents approve of this?"

Kagome stuck up her nose. "I do NOT need my parents permission, Your Honor." she stated plainly.

_A truly remarkable girl._ Sesshoumaru thought amused as he watched Kagome.

Sesshoumaru's gaze shifted to the judge as he spoke to him.

"Then Sesshoumaru, are you willing to be bound with this girl in order to escape your death sentence?" he asked.

Sesshoumaru turned to Kagome, who looked at him with the same question in her eyes.

_That's right...Sesshoumaru could reject it and choose to die._ Kagome thought disappointed but was surprised to see a smile appearing on his face.

Sesshoumaru turned to the judge again.

"If this girl is willing to have me, then I, Sesshoumaru, is also willing to be bound with her." he replied with a clear voice.

The judge sighed. "Then so be it." he said and turned around. "Free this youkai immediately and let a priest be summoned here!" he shouted, slightly annoyed that a youkai could get away after committing a crime.

  
The entire crowd became unquiet. It was part of the culture of the Western Land that a man could escape his death sentence when a woman was willing to marry him and plead for his life from the scaffold, yet this had never happened before in Pali and they were all stunned to experience it for the first time between an elf and a youkai. 

Sesshoumaru was freed from his chains and led away to change his clothes. When he returned, he was wearing his clothes and armor again. Only his Toukijin was missing. 

A priest soon arrived and the ceremony started with the priest saying the long oath.

~*~

Sesshoumaru and Kagome stood next to each other in front of the priest but they weren't listening him at all. They only looked at each other.

Kagome saw the question in his eyes. _Are you sure about this?_

She didn't say anything; she only gave him a determined look.

Seeing the determination in her eyes, Sesshoumaru smiled and turned to the priest. "I do." he spoke clearly.

_I can't believe this is happening to me..._ Kagome smiled in her mind. "I do." she answered. _Five days ago we were totally strangers to each other and now we're getting married..._

"I hereby bind you as husband and wife." the priest said. "Get these newlyweds a fine horse!!" he shouted.

~*~

A beautiful white horse was led to the platform and a soldier gave back Sesshoumaru his Toukijin.

After attaching his sword to his waist, Sesshoumaru and Kagome silently walked to the horse.

The background was filled with whispers and mutters coming from the crowd. 

Kagome wasn't sure if it was because of the whispers and mutters, but her conscience started to ask herself questions.

_Are you sure you have made the right decision?_

_Yeah...I wanted to save him...and I did...I married him..._

_What if he's only using you to escape death?_

_W-what are you talking about? He...he wouldn't...and besides...we're already married..._

_He could just dump you right here, right now and flee, baka!_

_He...I..._ Kagome couldn't find any words anymore to defend her decision and she gave in. _H-he could...couldn't he?_

Suddenly a male's voice rose from the crowd and shouted, causing Kagome to snap out of her thoughts.

"Yeah! Leave this town and never return, you wicked forest monster!!! Leave with that murderer!!"

  
Sesshoumaru's ears twitched and looked at Kagome. He noticed the agonized look on her face. 

He growled in his throat. _How dare he...!!!_

  
Kagome heard Sesshoumaru growl and became afraid. _That's it...he's ashamed of me and is regretting his choice. H-he's going to flee...just like my conscience had predicted._ Kagome thought, pushing back sudden tears.

  
Without second thought, Sesshoumaru unsheathed his sword, grabbed Kagome's waist and jumped into the air. The lower part of his tail floated in the air behind him as he was landing.

Kagome's eyes grew wide._ W-what is he doing?_ She thought surprised as she clasped his clothes.

  
Sesshoumaru landed gracefully in the middle of the crowd, right in front of the person who dared to exclaim those insulting words and raised his sword to his neck. 

"One more insulting word coming from your foul mouth and I, Sesshoumaru will not hesitate in slitting your throat with my sword." he growled.

The man looked shocked and quickly glanced at Kagome with an expression of hatred and disgust. 

Kagome quickly averted her gaze and buried her face in Sesshoumaru's clothes. She didn't want to see those eyes again.

Sesshoumaru noticed the fear coming from his mate and pushed his sword against the man's neck until he drew blood, forcing the man to wince and look at him again. "Don't you dare give her that look again!!" Sesshoumaru growled as he bared his fangs.

Sesshoumaru quickly looked around him at the rest of the townspeople that had backed away.

"And to you all!! Let this be my last verbal warning!!" he roared. "Don't you dare insult or hurt my mate again, if you treasure your lives!!"

Kagome pulled her head away from his chest and looked up at Sesshoumaru's furious face, astonished.

_He's protecting me...and he called me his mate..._ Kagome thought surprised and relieved at the same time. All her doubts were taken away in an instance.

"S-Sesshoumaru..." she whispered.

Sesshoumaru looked down at her. "Let us leave." he said with a gentle voice.

Kagome nodded slightly and leaned her head onto his chest again.

Sesshoumaru gave the townspeople a glare of death before he jumped into the air again.

He landed softly next to the horse and released his grip on Kagome.

The horse backed away a bit from Sesshoumaru, but was reassured by Kagome again when she patted the horse's head and whispered. "Good girl, don't be afraid and please take us away from this dreadful place."

The horse hesitated for a moment but nodded and walked towards Sesshoumaru again.

Sesshoumaru climbed onto the back of the horse and offered Kagome his hand. Kagome looked up at Sesshoumaru and took it with a smile.

He pulled her up with a swift motion like he didn't have to use any strength at all. Within seconds, Kagome was already sitting in front of Sesshoumaru.

His arm that was stretched out to hold the rein of the horse was supporting her back. His other arm was stretched out in front of Kagome, securing her so that she couldn't fall forward and also holding the rein.

[AN: Kagome is not sitting on the horse with her legs spread to each side, but Sesshoumaru is. They're sitting on the horse just like a real prince and a princess ^-^ get the picture?]

Without looking at any of the townspeople, Kagome leaned her head onto his chest. 

Sesshoumaru took that as a sign for take-off and kicked the horse softly on the side.

It turned around and galloped away.

[AN: Sesshoumaru isn't in love with Kagome right now, but he really respects her and is proud to have her as his mate so it's only a matter of time that he learns to love her. Hence he was willing to be bound with Kagome and protecting her as his mate.]

  
~*~*~*~

Sesshoumaru lowered the pace as soon as they left the town and entered the forest.

The trip through the forest proceeded with silence until Kagome finally decided to speak. "Arigatou." she said with a soft voice.

"Iie...I should be the grateful one." Sesshoumaru replied, knowing what Kagome meant.

Kagome looked up at him, only to find herself looking into two beautiful golden eyes. 

Sesshoumaru gave her a gentle smile. "After all, I have been saved by a beautiful forest angel."

Kagome blushed and lowered her face to hide her red cheeks. Sesshoumaru grinned.

"Where are we going?" she asked, recovering from her blush.

"Searching for a place to stay..." he replied. "...the sun is going to set soon, it's not safe to travel at night."

"Euhm...I know a place..." Kagome mumbled. "...in the forest, where you rescued me." She looked up at Sesshoumaru and saw him nodding slightly before he drove the horse into another direction.

  
~*~*~*~

They have finally reached the open area when the sun set and the moon was visible up in the starry sky. The moon and stars shone brightly that you didn't need a lamp to find your way through the forest. And with Sesshoumaru's excellent eyes, there is no need for light at all to travel in the dark.

Sesshoumaru descended the horse and helped Kagome climb off.

"Up there." Kagome pointed at the hut up in a tree. 

Sesshoumaru looked up. It was camouflaged but Sesshoumaru could clearly see the hut. "Did you build it yourself?" he asked surprised.

"Hai..." Kagome answered.

Sesshoumaru gave her a proud look. "Allow me." With that he scooped Kagome up in his arms and jumped into the tree.

He landed on the small balcony of the hut and gently put Kagome on her feet.

Kagome walked inside and he followed her.

It was small but very cozy and to Sesshoumaru's surprise, it was very sturdy for a hut in a tree made of such simple material. There were pillows and a huge blanket lying on the floor. The whole hut was clean and tidy.

"It's not a suite, but at least we wouldn't have to sleep in the open." Kagome said, slightly embarrassed.

Suddenly, she felt two arms hugging her from behind. 

Sesshoumaru rested his head on her shoulder. "It's perfect." he whispered in her ear.

Kagome relaxed after hearing his words.

"It's our wedding-night, my love." he whispered and turned her around. Kagome didn't look at Sesshoumaru so he raised his hand to her chin and gently lifted her face, forcing her to look in his eyes.

As soon as their eyes met, Kagome couldn't take her eyes off of his again.

_His eyes are really mesmerizing._ Kagome thought as she continued to look into Sesshoumaru's eyes.

Sesshoumaru pulled her closer until she was leaning onto his chest. "I do not want you to do something you aren't ready for, my dear Kagome." he said with a gentle voice.

He touched her cheek with his hand. "So please give me a sign." 

With that he released his embrace and turned around.

_He's asking me?_ Kagome thought surprised. _He could have taken me by now...yet he's asking me for permission...?_

Kagome noticed that Sesshoumaru was starting to leave.

She quickly ran to him and hugged him from behind, causing Sesshoumaru to stop.

"I-it's okay, we're bound to each other, right?" she whispered.

Sesshoumaru held her hand that rested on his chest. "Kagome, you do not have to push yourself if you think it's too soon." he said.

Kagome motioned him to turn around and Sesshoumaru did.

As soon as he turned around he was caught off guard and surprised to feel Kagome's lips on his. When she pulled away, he was looking at her wide-eyed.

Sesshoumaru looked into her eyes. Kagome didn't say anything, but her eyes were telling him that she wanted this and that she was giving him permission. "I don't know what love is...show me?" she said with a soft voice.

  
[AN: Yes it was Kagome first kiss, nobody taught her but her instinct told her that she wanted to kiss him so she did. Kagome's a straightforward and brave girl. She doesn't want to be small and afraid anymore; she wants to grow up and be an adult. First step towards growing up is to not be afraid to try and experience things. She indeed doesn't know what love is and how it is to love someone, so she wants to try. She knows that Sesshoumaru has more experience than she did, since he's older than her, so she wants him to show her. She isn't a person who would make love with anyone just for the experience, mind you, she's very loyal!!! Since she is married to Sesshoumaru, she is giving him permission to teach her about love. I hope you can still follow me ^-^]

  
Sesshoumaru smiled at her straightforwardness. He raised his hand to her face and stroked her cheek before he leaned closer and put his lips on hers.

Kagome's eyes grew wider, softened and closed as Sesshoumaru put his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. 

Kagome didn't know what the feeling was that was rising in her stomach but she knew she liked it and it was obviously because of Sesshoumaru.

She leaned onto the kiss and it deepened. 

Without parting their lips, Sesshoumaru gently lifted her up and slowly laid her on the blanket on the floor. He settled himself on top of her and began to kiss her more hungrily. He licked her lips and asked her for permission. 

Kagome smiled and slightly parted her lips. Sesshoumaru took that as a 'yes' and entered his tongue into her mouth. He savored every part of her mouth, causing Kagome to moan. 

~*~*~ 

Before they relaxed, Sesshoumaru quickly bared his fangs and put his fangs in her, on the place where her shoulder and neck meet, causing Kagome to wince.

"I'm sorry for hurting you twice, my love, but this will be the last time..." he whispered as he licked the blood coming from the bite mark.

"Don't apologize...I have never felt such wonderful feelings before...thank you." Kagome smiled as she moved up her hand and stroked his silver silky hair. "But what was that for?" she asked curiously, pointing at her neck.

Sesshoumaru moved aside to his back to prevent himself from crushing Kagome, should his body go limp of exhaustion. He pulled Kagome with him so that she was resting on his chest with her upper body. 

"Bearing that mark, shows every other youkai that you're taken." he said as he inhaled her sweet scent.

Kagome traced the bite mark with her fingers and giggled. "I see..."

Kagome shifted her position so that she was resting on top of Sesshoumaru with her whole body (on her side). She curled herself up a little and her head was now resting on his bare chest right below his chin.

After she found a comfortable position, she stopped shifting. Sesshoumaru put his arms around her protectively.

Kagome could hear his heartbeat. It was calm and worked just like a soothing lullaby. She soon fell asleep after listening a while.

Sesshoumaru waited until her breathing slowed down. _She's sleeping..._ he thought as he watched the form that lifted up and down together with his chest; they were breathing in harmony. He somehow liked the way in which they were positioned.

_Oyasumi nasai, my sweet angel._ Were his last thoughts before he fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

**Vocabulary:**  
**Toukijin: **A powerful fang (sword) owned by Sesshoumaru.  
**Baka:** Stupid/Moron  
**Arigatou:** Thank you.  
**Iie:** No  
**Oyasumi nasai:** Good night

Posted: 23 July 2003   
Last Edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tags problem)  
Spelling check: YES 


	6. Meeting up with companions

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients into a new story.

**INTRODUCTION TO CHARACTERS:**

**Members of the group mercenaries under Sesshoumaru's authority:** Renkotsu, Kyoukotsu and Kouga

**Renkotsu:** A full-blooded youkai that uses his breath of fire to fight. He's a youkai that thinks himself smarter than Sesshoumaru most of the time. He joined Sesshoumaru after he challenged him and totally lost. He knew Kyoukotsu long before joining the group but isn't related to him.

**Kyoukotsu:** A full-blooded youkai that uses his huge claws and sharp teeth to fight. He's quite submissive towards his leader and very prone to make mistakes because he's got more muscles than brains (figuratively ^-^). He was recruited after Renkotsu introduced him. He's not as tall as in the series; he's only one head taller than Renkotsu.

**Kouga: **A full-blooded wolf youkai that possesses a very high speed. He uses his fist and legs in combination with his speed to fight. He's very loyal to Sesshoumaru, mostly because Sesshoumaru saved his life before. He's very kind and speedy, but he doesn't think a lot before he acts.

_Italic_: thoughts   
-- --: locations   
"...": spoken words   
~*~*~*~*~: time gap   
*...* : noises

* * *

  


**AN ELVES' CHILD**

-by Kittymui-

  
**Meeting up with companions**

Daylight broke through the window and shone on Sesshoumaru's face, causing him to wake up. 

His eyes shot open when he realized Kagome was gone. He looked around. _Her clothes and weapons are gone too!_

"Kagome?!" he yelled as he sat up. The blanket covered his lower body.

"What are you panicking for?" a familiar voice spoke from the doorway.

Sesshoumaru was relieved to see it was Kagome. She was wearing her 'maid' clothes again, this time without the apron.   
[AN: In case you forgot, it was a ragged gray dress with a V-shaped neckline.]

He noticed that she was holding something in both her hands. When he looked down, he realized she was holding three dead rabbits in one hand and a bow in the other. All three rabbits were injured at their eyes.

"I went out hunting, food doesn't fall from the skies you know." she smirked, noticing the surprised look on Sesshoumaru's face.

Kagome threw the bodies on the floor and knelt down to unequip herself. "It's easy..." she pointed at the injured eyes of the rabbits. "...especially at night, because their eyes lit up by the moonlight."

When Kagome didn't hear anything, she turned to look at Sesshoumaru. "Are you even listening__" she said, slightly annoyed but stopped when she saw the gaze that Sesshoumaru was giving her.

It was a proud look, but Kagome swore she could also see lust in those eyes.

"Sesshoum__" Kagome was cut off when he suddenly pounced at her, causing her to fall backwards and lay flat on the floor. The blanket flew off of his body and his completely naked body was on top off Kagome.

Kagome could hear some rumbling sound coming from Sesshoumaru as he nuzzled her neck. _Is he purring...?_ she wondered surprised.

"Sesshoumaru?"

"You're really something, you know that?" she heard Sesshoumaru growl in her neck. "You make me prouder every minute...it makes me want to take you right now..."

Kagome started to struggle under him. "Stop it." she giggled. "I've already washed myself this morning."

Sesshoumaru suddenly picked her up and walked to the balcony.

[AN: YUP!! Sesshoumaru is still NAKED!! *droooool* :D~]

"W-what are you doing?" Kagome asked as she looked down.

Sesshoumaru said nothing and grinned wickedly. He suddenly jumped into the air and landed right in the middle of the creek.

*SPLASH*

Water splashed and Sesshoumaru was standing in the creek with the water at the height of his chest. He was still carrying Kagome, who was only above the water surface with her head and shoulders. White silver hair and raven black hair danced with each other on the water surface.

Kagome looked annoyed. "Great...now you've done it..." she muttered as she wiped the water of her face.

"Angry?" he smirked. "I know you like it as much as I do...I can smell it." he said, emphasizing the 'smell' word.

Kagome looked up at him and grinned before she threw her arms around his neck and pulled him down to kiss him.

Sesshoumaru kissed her back and sank into the water, pulling Kagome with him.

~*~ 

Before they completely relaxed, Sesshoumaru held Kagome tight and jumped back into the tree house again.

  
~*~*~*~ In the afternoon ~*~*~*~

Kagome was riding on the horse. She changed her clothes and was now wearing a navy blue yukata with imbedded white flowers. She stole it from her mother's wardrobe a couple of months ago. Her hair was loose and dancing in the wind as breezes blew pass her.  
Sesshoumaru was walking in front of the horse and holding the rein in his hand. They were traveling on an unpaved path on a low dyke that separated the woods. The dyke wasn't high enough for them to be higher than the trees.

"Where are we heading to?" Kagome asked.

"We're heading North, " he replied. "to a town called Paedra. My companions are waiting for me there."

"Companions?"

"I am the leader of a group mercenaries." he explained. "We had agreed to meet up in Paedra."

"When I was heading there to meet up with them, I heard a girl cry out for help and I deviated from my path." He looked over his shoulder and smiled at Kagome. "And you know the rest."

Kagome returned a smile and they both became silent during the whole travel; both enjoyed the nature as they made their way through the forest.

Kagome knew what mercenaries did; they get hired by people and get paid for getting the job done. And the job mostly involved killing. But she wasn't surprised or scared at all, to hear that her husband was a mercenary. _What could be more surprising than marrying a full-blooded inuyoukai?_ she chuckled in her mind.

  
~*~*~*~

"Let us rest here for a while." Sesshoumaru said as they reached an open area with a small lake.

"You stay here and guard the horse. I will get us some fresh water." he commanded before he turned and walked away.

Kagome descended from the horse and sat down near a high and old Oak tree. She closed her eyes and began to hum a melody that her mother used to sing to her when she was still a baby.

She stopped when she heard the horse neigh and opened her eyes. "Who's there?" she asked.

"That was such a lovely tune, why stop?" a voice spoke from behind the tree that Kagome was leaning against.

Kagome immediately jumped up and turned around. "Show yourself!!" she commanded.

The person came from behind the tree. It was a youkai.

He had black hair tied in a ponytail and he wore brown fur on his lower arms and legs. Kagome noticed his brown tail.

"You're a wolf youkai..." she concluded.

"Smart girl." the youkai smirked. 

He approached her. "Such a pretty girl like you shouldn't wander around alone in this forest."

Kagome took a step backwards. "I'm not...and don't you dare come closer!" she gritted her teeth.

Despite her warning, the youkai was already standing in front of Kagome within a blink of an eye. He sniffed her. "I can smell you're already taken..." he grabbed her chin. "...but that does not matter." 

He felt her body tense and chuckled. "How foolish of your mate to leave you alone like that." He leaned closer.

*SLAP*

The youkai blinked for a moment. His cheek was stinging and red. 

When he looked at the person who slapped him, he saw an enraged expression on her face.

"I'm NOT defenseless like any other weak human!!" she spat furiously.

The youkai touched his red cheek and could only stare at her.

  
"It seems that my interference would not be necessary." a voice spoke amused. The youkai and Kagome quickly turned to the person who spoke.

"S-Sesshoumaru!!" Kagome cried relieved and ran to him.

Sesshoumaru spread out his free arm and put it around Kagome after she reached his chest. 

His other hand was holding a small bamboo shoot filled with water.

"Surely Kouga, you should have known better and think twice before you go and touch my mate." Sesshoumaru smirked.

Kouga's eyes widened. "P-please forgive me!! I didn't know she was yours!! P-please forgive my impudent behavior!!" he shrieked.

"Use your nose better next time." Sesshoumaru growled. "Where is the rest?"

T-they are already waiting for us in Paedra." he replied obediently, recovering from his shock.

Sesshoumaru turned to Kagome. "It's okay, he's one of my companions." he reassured her. "His name is Kouga and he's from the wolves' tribe." Kagome slightly nodded.

  
~*~*~*~

"So...how did you end up with such a pretty angel?" Kouga asked as they traveled up North. He was walking next to Sesshoumaru, who was walking in front of the horse where Kagome was riding on.

Kagome blushed.

"I saved her life when she was attacked by three men." Sesshoumaru explained. "I killed one of them in the process and was sentenced to death until Kagome came out of the crowd and pleaded for my life. She saved my life by becoming my mate."

"Saved by an angel huh? Lucky bastard!" Kouga teased. "You ain't gonna find another one like Kagome, I tell you!"

Kagome became even redder than before. "Would you stop that? You're embarrassing me!!" she cried.

Sesshoumaru couldn't hold it anymore and burst out laughing. Kagome and Kouga soon joined the laughter.

  
~*~*~*~ Two days later ~*~*~*~

They've finally reached Paedra. It was another town, about 2 times bigger than Pali.

Sesshoumaru, Kagome and Kouga made their way to the inn. The inn was totally made of wood, except for the roof. It had two floors; on the ground floor there was the dining room with tables and a counter and the rooms for rent are all located on the first floor, together with the bathrooms. Next to the inn there was a huge barn attached, where horses and carriages could be parked.

A small boy led the horse to the barn and Kagome followed him to help take care of the horse. Sesshoumaru and Kouga, on the other hand, went inside the building to meet up with the rest of the group.

When they entered the dining room, they saw two familiar youkai at the window staring at something outside. 

One of them had a light-blue headscarf on his head, tied on the base of his neck and the rest of the scarf resting on his back. Although his head is covered, you could clearly see that he was completely bald under the headscarf. He was wearing a white haori with gray armor over it and a white hakama. His armor looked more like a vest made of iron, covering his back and chest, with wide shoulder straps on each of his shoulders.

The other one also had a humanoid figure but is much broader and taller than the first one. He has spiky turquoise colored hair. He's wearing a huge armor of good quality over his bare upper body; covering a bit of his lower body. Below the armor, he's wearing a black legging.

Sesshoumaru and Kouga approached them. Sesshoumaru became quite annoyed when he realized it was Kagome that they were staring at through the window. The window actually led to the stable and through it you could see Kagome tending her horse. Her beautiful raven black hair rested on her shoulders as she brushed the back of her horse.

He became even more annoyed when one of the youkai made a comment. "She's really cute for a human, don't you agree Kyoukotsu?"

Feeling the increasing anger coming from Sesshoumaru, Kouga quickly coughed to get their attention. "Ahum...that girl is already taken, you know?" he coughed, hoping that they would get the message.

"Shut up, Kouga. Can't you see that Renkotsu and I are busy?" Kyoukotsu snarled, without taking his eyes off of Kagome. They didn't seem to notice Sesshoumaru standing behind them.

"I don't even care whether she's taken or not," Kyoukotsu almost drooled as he continued. "I'm only thinking about pouncing at her and taking her right there, right now." he smirked.

_Oops...wrong answer..._ Kouga thought scared as he felt more anger coming from their leader and he backed away.

"Even if she's taken by me?" Sesshoumaru suddenly asked.

Finally Renkotsu turned around, annoyed. He has slightly slit eyes and two wide dark-purple vertical lines running from his eyelids to his chin on both his cheeks. A strange mark, with the same color as the marks on his cheeks, could be seen on his forehead, it kind of looked like the head of a bull with two long horns.

He widened his eyes as he realized it was their leader who asked the question. He became even more scared when Kyoukotsu continued to be rude to Sesshoumaru.

"I said I do NOT care by whom the girl's taken!!" Kyoukotsu roared irritated. 

Renkotsu quickly prodded him with his elbow. 

"W-why it's Sesshoumaru!! We didn't know you've already arrived!!" he spoke with a clear and loud voice so that Kyoukotsu couldn't miss it.

Kyoukotsu froze and gulped as soon as he heard the name of their leader. He slowly turned around, only to find himself facing a very VERY annoyed Sesshoumaru. Kyoukotsu had scars all over his face and very sharp teeth could be seen as he dropped his jaw.

Although Sesshoumaru's face was as emotionless as always, his gaze was definitely saying: "One more wrong word and I won't hesitate in shredding you into pieces."

Shivers were sent to his spine when Kyoukotsu saw the sudden smirk on Sesshoumaru's face.

"Pounce at her and take her..." he repeated Kyoukotsu's words slowly, while suppressing his anger. "...right there...right now, huh?"

Sweatdrops formed on Kyoukotsu's forehead. "Y-yurushite kudasai!!!" he cried out terrified. "If I knew she was yours, I wouldn't dare saying those impudent words!!"

Sesshoumaru's rage cooled down as he saw the terrified expression on Kyoukotsu's face. _At least they still remember who has the authority._ he thought to himself.

*silence*

"So these are your companions." a voice suddenly spoke.  
Everyone, except Sesshoumaru, were caught off guard and almost jumped up of surprise.

"Come here Kagome, let me introduce them to you." he said, slightly amused to see the surprised faces.

He pointed at Renkotsu and Kyoukotsu respectively. "This is Renkotsu and Kyoukotsu."

Kagome nodded and bowed slightly. "I'm Kagome, nice to meet you both." she smiled.

Both their gazes shifted to their leader first. When an approving look was given, they turned to Kagome again. "P-pleasures all mine, Kagome-sama." they both said at the same time.

  
~*~*~*~

After dinner, Sesshoumaru sent Kagome back to their room first, telling her that he and his companions were going to discuss about the next plans. Kagome wanted to object and attend the discussion but she obeyed instead, since she became quite weary of the travel.

_We have traveled for two days already without taking long breaks._ Kagome thought as she brushed her hair in front of the mirror. _I wonder how far we are from Pali..._

She looked at her reflection. "Everybody seems to only find me pretty after I left Pali..." Kagome smiled to herself. "I'm so glad I haven't made the wrong decision."

She stood up and sat on the edge of the huge bed. "I'm finally free from those horrible townspeople and I'm married to someone who cares about me and is proud of me." Kagome thought aloud and let herself fall backwards on the soft bed.  
It was a double bed made of wood and the snow-white mattress was covered by a soft burgundy colored quilt made of wool. The pillows were also burgundy and just as soft as the quilt.

"Hmm, I wonder if I can get my own weapons and armor and fight beside Sesshoumaru." she mused.

"Now that sounds more like the mate of I, Sesshoumaru." Sesshoumaru said proudly.

Kagome shot up of surprise. "Don't you knock!?" she gasped.

Sesshoumaru smirked and walked towards the bed. "I did, love, but you were so deep in though that you didn't hear it." he explained, sitting down on the edge of the bed, next to Kagome.

"So...how did the discussion go?" Kagome asked.

"Well, first I had to explain why I was delayed." he started. "After that we've decided to pay a visit to the counselor who lives here to see if there are any missions for us."

Kagome gave him a puzzled look. "Missions?"

"Whenever the king needs something to be done at a certain place, he will send messages to the counselors of the nearby cities or towns. These counselors will then hire people like use to get the missions done." he explained patiently.

"Oh, I get it." Kagome acknowledged.

"But before we do that, I will take you out shopping first." he added.

"Shop for what?" she asked bewildered.

"Let's see, first of all, to get you some clothes, male as well as female ones." he replied casually.

Kagome's eyes grew wide. "You want me to dress like a man!?!" she shrieked.

Sesshoumaru gave her an indifferent look. "Like a man? No. Like a boy? Yes. Why? Because I don't want to shred every human or youkai into pieces when they can't take their eyes or hands off of my attractive mate."

Kagome smirked. "Well, aren't we possessive today?" she chuckled.

Sesshoumaru's expression became serious. "Not only today, love," he growled as he leaned closer and nuzzled her neck. "as long as there is life in this body, this youkai will NOT let you be touched by someone else except himself."

"Oh? What about females?" Kagome teased.

He pulled away and looked at her with an annoyed expression.

Kagome tapped his nose with her index finger. "Just kidding you silly." she giggled. "Anyway, what are we going to buy besides clothes?"

"Didn't you say you wanted weapons of your own?" Sesshoumaru smiled.

Kagome's eyes widened. "You'll buy them for me!?" she gasped. When Sesshoumaru nodded, she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. "Arigatou!!"

"But..." Sesshoumaru suddenly added, pulling Kagome away to face her. "you have to promise me that you will stop using them when the time comes."

"When the time comes...?" Kagome asked.

He pointed at her stomach. "When you are carrying our pup." he explained.

"That's not fair!!! I can defend myself and fight perfectly, even when I'm carrying a baby, in or outside my belly!!" Kagome pouted.

"I will not risk the life of my cub nor my mate who is carrying one." he reasoned. "I might not be able to protect the both of you."

"I can!" Kagome argued. "I can protect myself and my baby!"

"You are NOT going to fight when you are carrying a pup and that's final!" he yelled.

_This is really going nowhere..._ Kagome thought as she kept looking at him. _ I guess I should be grateful that he's at least allowing me to use weapons._

Kagome's eyes softened. "Oh alright, I promise you." she finally gave in.

"Promise me what?" Sesshoumaru responded, calming himself.

Kagome leaned onto his chest. "I promise not to fight when I'm pregnant." 

Sesshoumaru relaxed after hearing her words and put his arms around her. "But_" she added and pulled back a little. "I will pick up my weapons once again as soon as our child is old enough!"

Sesshoumaru smiled and puller her closer to place a kiss on her temple. "I wouldn't expect my mate to become an obedient housewife after she gave birth to our first pup." he snickered before he leaned closer and kissed her.

Kagome smiled in their kiss and threw her arms around his neck to lean onto the kiss.

They slowly settled themselves under the quilt after parting their lips. Sesshoumaru lay on his back and Kagome snuggled closer until she was leaned on his chest and he responded by putting his arms around her protectively and holding her close.

Sesshoumaru waited until his mate was asleep before he let it claim him too.

* * *

**Vocabulary:**  
**Yurushite kudasai:** Please forgive me.

Posted: 30 July 2003  
Last Edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tags problem)  
Spelling check: YES 


	7. Kagome's first battle upper part: earnin...

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients into a new story.

_Italic_: thoughts   
-- --: locations   
"...": spoken words   
~*~*~*~*~: time gap   
*...* : noises

* * *

  


**AN ELVES' CHILD**

-by Kittymui-

  
**Kagome's first battle (upper part): earning respect**

Kagome was walking next to Sesshoumaru as they entered and exited several stores that sold clothes. 

The streets were not very crowded today. Both sides of the streets of Paedra were filled with all kinds of stores. The upper floors above the stores were apartments where owners of those stores and their families live. The town Paedra had lots of row houses like that and al of them only consisted of 2 floors: ground floor for the store and first floor the residence. Besides that, the town also has single houses in which people of upper classes occupied.   
The streets were paved with gray square stones everywhere in the town.

  
[AN: Right now, Sesshoumaru is wearing his usual outfit: armor, white haori and hakama. And Kagome is wearing temporary boys' clothes: a blue shirt with black pants and her hair plaited in one braid resting on her back.]

They have shopped for almost 2 hours already and they still hadn't find suitable male clothes for Kagome to wear. For Kagome kept rejecting the clothes that the salesmen offered. It was already high noon.

_Damn, shopping with women really takes a lot of patience..._ Sesshoumaru thought, slightly annoyed, while looking for other stores.

"Ne...Sesshoumaru?" Kagome suddenly asked.

Sesshoumaru kept his eyes in front of him as he continued to walk. "What is it?"

"Where did you get your outfit?" she asked.

Sesshoumaru stopped walking and turned to her. "Why?" he asked.

Kagome blushed. "I...euhm...kind of...wanted to wear the same outfit...as you are wearing now..." she stuttered.

Sesshoumaru widened his eyes. "My outfit? Why?"

"I think it's very beautiful and since it's a male outfit I thought I could wear the same and pretend to be your brother or something like that." Kagome explained.

"I already have one though..." Sesshoumaru muttered. Kagome quickly looked at him, wide-eyed. "Really??"

"Euhm well, he's a half-brother..." he corrected himself, averting his gaze. 

"What's his name? Where is he?" Kagome asked curiously. "Does he_" she halted herself when she noticed the change of expression on his face. 

"I-I'm sorry, I guess you don't want to talk about it." Kagome said.

Sesshoumaru turned to look at Kagome and smiled at her for being so considerate. "I don't think we'll be able to find the same outfit in any of the stores here in Paedra." he finally said.

Kagome's face dropped. 

"But I'm sure we can find someone who can make exactly the same outfit in a smaller size." he added before he started to walk again.

Kagome immediately cheered up and followed Sesshoumaru into an alley.

[AN: In case you might be wondering why the people of Paedra aren't afraid of Sesshoumaru, since he's so famous. It's because people only heard about his name and him being a mercenary that never failed the jobs he received. So people know his name, but do not know how he looks like. It's the same situation as in Pali; the people didn't recognize Sesshoumaru by his looks, but they gasped when they heard his name.]

  
~*~*~*~

After walking in the alley a while, they've finally reached a store. From the outside, it didn't look like a store at all, since there weren't anything showing in the shop windows and it didn't even have a name or signboard. If you look through the windows you wouldn't be able to see anything, since it was quite dark inside.   
Sesshoumaru entered it without hesitation and Kagome followed.

The story was quite small from the inside and it looked very dusty. There were a couple of closets with clothes and some headless tailors' dummies wearing armor, but that's all of it. A small counter stood at the back of the store. Behind the counter was an open doorway with a large red curtain hanging from top to bottom, concealing whatever it is behind.

"Ah Sesshoumaru-sama, irashai." an old salesman spoke as he bowed deeply in front of Sesshoumaru. "Are you looking for something specific today?" he asked without looking up. 

"I want you to make exact the same outfit that I'm wearing now, for this person here." Sesshoumaru ordered.

The old man looked up and scanned Kagome, who was standing next to Sesshoumaru.

The salesman was quite short and meager. His cheekbones are clearly visible on his wrinkled face. He had a bent back and a long white beard. It was obvious that he was a youkai, since his skin color was green. With his skin color he looked like a tortoise without a shell. He was wearing a dark brown tunic with short sleeves and trouser legs to his knees.

"That won't be too difficult, if Sesshoumaru-sama would give me 2 days..." he concluded after a short moment of silence.

"Too long, I'll give you one hour at most." Sesshoumaru stated plainly and handed a small bag of coins over to the old man.

The old man took the bag of coins and looked at it. [AN: It contains about 50 coins, in case you're curious ^-^]  
"I-I understand...one hour it is..." the old man responded. "If this young lady could follow me please?" he said before he turned around.

Kagome turned to Sesshoumaru.

"Don't worry, he's an old acquaintance of mine." he reassured her. Kagome slightly nodded before she followed the old man.

Sesshoumaru watched her disappear behind a red curtain at the back of the store before he walked towards a window and sat down on the windowsill.

  
~*~*~*~ One hour later ~*~*~*~

Exactly one hour passed and Sesshoumaru stood up again.

The old man appeared again from behind the curtain and bowed. "It's done." he said before he turned around. "You can come out now, young lady." he called.

Kagome came from behind the curtain and walked towards Sesshoumaru.

Sesshoumaru couldn't believe his eyes and his jaw almost dropped at the sight of Kagome wearing almost exact the same outfit as he did. 

Kagome was wearing the same outfit as Sesshoumaru. But her haori and hakama weren't of the same color as those of Sesshoumaru. Her haori and hakama were colored navy blue at the edges; like a 5-centimeter wide line that runs alongside the edges of the garments. And the sash that was tied around her armor (at her waist) was white instead of yellow.

"I'm terribly sorry, Sesshoumaru-sama, I could not make the exact same outfit for her, for there wasn't any fabric of the same color as your haori anymore." the old man explained.

"Your job is done." Sesshoumaru replied coolly. "Now leave us. You will not be telling another person about this job and you have not seen us today, do I make myself clear?" Sesshoumaru ordered with a low voice.

"Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama." the old man replied as he bowed deeply before he disappeared behind the curtain again.

  
"And? Does it fit me?" Kagome asked.

"Could not be more graceful." Sesshoumaru smirked as he turned to her again and put his arms around her waist; pulling her closer.

"Only missing a fluffy tail." Kagome giggled, stroking the tail that hung over Sesshoumaru's shoulder.

Sesshoumaru smiled before he leaned closer and placed a soft kiss upon her lips. Kagome wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him back.

After a while he finally pulled away. "From now on, I'm going to have to suppress myself from doing this in public before people start to think I'm in love with my younger brother." he grinned and inhaled her sweet scent. Kagome giggled at the thought.

  
~*~*~*~

Kouga, Renkotsu and Kyoukotsu were standing at the town square, waiting for their leader.

It was already late in the afternoon. Most of the townspeople were already at home having dinner, so the town square was empty except for the three of them. A fountain stood in the middle of the town square. It was a circular fountain with two angels standing in the middle of the fountain, each with a jug in their hands, where water poured out.

  
Renkotsu and Kyoukotsu were sitting on the edge of the fountain, while Kouga was walking back and forth next to the fountain.  
"What's taking them so long?" Kouga growled impatiently.

"There he is!" Kyoukotsu shouted as he pointed at someone approaching from the distance. It was Sesshoumaru.

He reached the fountain with Kagome behind him. Her hair was tied back in a braid, which was resting on her back. She was holding something long in her hand and a black rope could be seen, running from her left shoulder to the right side of her waist. It was tied around her chest like a safety belt.

"There you are..." Kouga sighed relieved. He suddenly noticed the person standing behind him. "Hey, where's Kagome?" he asked. "Don't tell me you've replaced her with a__" He quickly halted himself when he saw the glare that Sesshoumaru gave him.

"Baka." Renkotsu smirked as he stood up and walked towards Kagome. "You should really use your nose better than your eyes."

He suddenly grabbed Kagome's shoulders, causing her body to tense. "This so called boy, is in fact..." he whispered as he leaned closer and sniffed her.

Kagome froze as she felt his breath in her neck. _What does he think he's doing!?_ Kagome scowled in her mind.

Sesshoumaru saw what happened out of the corner of his eye and he was about to tear Renkotsu apart for crossing the line. But he halted himself when he saw that Renkotsu backing away.

Renkotsu suddenly halted himself and backed away when he felt something digging his chest. 

When he looked down, he saw a shiny object, caused by the reflected sunlight, pointing at his chest. The object moved and Renkotsu realized it was an arrowhead that was pointing at his heart.

Kagome had bent her bow and was holding it diagonally. Kagome narrowed her eyes. "Make one wrong move again and I'll be happy to try out my newly acquired weapon on your body." she snarled.

Renkotsu didn't show any fear at all and smirked instead. "Oh my, I'm scared. Who do you think you are? You're just a mere mortal girl..." he mocked, emphasizing the fact that Kagome was a female and a girl. "You know you cannot kill me...you aren't the leader, you know...you can't just__"  
Renkotsu was suddenly cut off when Sesshoumaru unsheathed his Toukijin in a flash and pushed it against his neck.

The grin on Renkotsu's face immediately fell. "What the...??" he said surprised, turning to Sesshoumaru, who stood next to Kagome.

"As a matter of fact, she can..." Sesshoumaru growled as his gaze shifted from Renkotsu to the other two youkai, who still stood by the fountain. They were startled by the whole scene.  
"Let this be a last warning to you three...Kagome is and will always be my mate." he growled. "And I will NOT think twice before digging my claws in he who dares to lay a finger on her!! Even if it means for me to lose a group member!!"

Renkotsu winced at his loud voice and back away. "I understand." 

Kagome finally lowered her bow and relaxed.

"Furthermore...everything she commands will be obeyed without question." Sesshoumaru added. "From this day on, you will be referring her as lord Sora, understood??" he ordered.

The three youkai nodded obediently.

"Let us go." Sesshoumaru commanded before he turned around and walked away. Kagome walked beside him with her bow in her hand and quiver on her back; the rest followed behind.

  
-- At the counselor's mansion --

The mansion was located at the border of Paedra. It was a huge mansion, obviously meant for people from the upper classes. Well, since the counselors worked for the king, it was quite predictable that they were wealthy. 

Sesshoumaru knocked the large front door of the mansion and a maid opened. "What is it?" she asked.

"Tell your master that Sesshoumaru has arrived." Sesshoumaru replied casually.

The maid invited them in and disappeared upstairs. 

After a while she returned. "Please follow me, my master awaits." she said politely and walked up the stairs again. 

The stairs were wide and the steps were coated with a very expensive burgundy carpet. Although Kagome didn't show, inside she was quite amazed by the incredible wealth that was visible inside the mansion.

  
~*~*~*~

Before entering the counselor's room, Sesshoumaru ordered Kagome and the rest not to interfere with the negotiation and let him do the talking and they understood.

  
"Ah Sesshoumaru, I have been expecting you." the counselor greeted, sitting in his chair behind his desk.

The room of the counsilor was filled with bookcases and cabinets. Beautiful decorations were visible in the room: statues, paintings, rugs, antlers and so forth.

The counselor was a middle-aged man with brown hair and a wide mustache. He wore clothes like those of a general: dark green uniform with small medals pinned on it at the height of his chest. He didn't look friendly, very strict instead.

"Save the formal greetings." Sesshoumaru said rudely. "I've come to ask if there are any missions."

The counselor frowned by Sesshoumaru's unmannerliness but quickly hid it again. "For the great Sesshoumaru?" he chuckled. "Yes, there is one." he said as he handed over a scroll.

Sesshoumaru took it and read it.

"Take out a gang of thieves huh?" Sesshoumaru muttered, his voice sounded insulted.

"It's a very powerful gang and several groups of mercenaries have already fallen after taking this mission." the counselor added, sensing Sesshoumaru's discontent.

"How much are you willing to pay me?" Sesshoumaru inquired.

"One thousand gold coins." he replied.

Sesshoumaru smirked. "Multiply by five or I'll have to pass."

The counselor jumped out of his chair and smacked his hands on the desk. "Five thousand!?!?! But that's extortion!!" he cried.

"Take it or leave it." Sesshoumaru snickered.

The counselor pondered for a moment and sat down again. "Oh alright, five thousand it is then." he gave in dismayed.

"Prepare the money and wait for my return." Sesshoumaru stated confidently before he turned and left the room with the group following him.

After the whole group left the mansion, the counselor relaxed and sighed. "I hate his guts!! Impudent youkai!!" he cried out. "Someday, your pride will be your death and I will definitely jump in the air of happiness."

  
-- Back at the inn --

Sesshoumaru and the rest returned to the inn when the sun had set. After dinner, Sesshoumaru stood up and walked to the stairs. Kagome followed him. The rest of the youkai stayed at the table.

Halfway up the stairs, he paused and looked at the other three youkai. "Get some sleep. Tomorrow, we'll leave at dawn." he ordered and continued his way to his and Kagome's bedroom. 

  
~*~

Kagome was resting on Sesshoumaru's chest and listening to his calm heartbeat.

"Neh Sesshoumaru?" she suddenly asked while lifting herself up to look at Sesshoumaru.

"Hm?" he replied, without opening his eyes.

"Is it..." Kagome continued but hesitated for a while. "...okay for me to have the same authority as you? I mean...I'm a female after all and they might rebel against you because of your decision..."

Sesshoumaru finally opened his eyes a little and raised his hand to her face to stroke her cheek. "So that's why you were silent during dinner. Don't worry too much, love, they'll learn to respect you once they know you." he said reassuringly.

Kagome felt relieved after hearing his words and laid her head back down on his chest again. She fell asleep after a while and Sesshoumaru followed.

  
~*~ The next morning ~*~

Sesshoumaru and his group left the inn as soon as the sun appeared from below the horizon.   
They were walking through the forest. Kagome was riding on her horse, with a quiver on her back, a bow in her one hand and the rein in the other. She was wearing the clothes and armor that she bought the day before and her hair was tied in a braid, which was draped over her shoulder. [AN: Her hairstyle kind of looks like that of Bankotsu now, only with a shorter braid.]  
Sesshoumaru walked in the front, Kagome rode right behind him on her horse. Kouga walked on the left side of Kagome and Renkotsu on the right; Kyoukotsu walked behind her.

  
~*~*~ After a couple of hours ~*~*~

Suddenly Sesshoumaru held up his hand and everybody stopped walking. "They're here." he warned before he unsheathed his sword.  
Kagome readied her bow and the rest prepared themselves for battle.

A moment of silence blew over the forest as they waited for the enemy to make their first move. To their surprise, Kagome suddenly fired an arrow into the trees.

"What the fuck are you shooting at?!" Renkotsu cried out loud and looked furiously at Kagome.

Sesshoumaru growled and was about to say something but was halted by Kagome as she raised her hand.  
She turned to look at Renkotsu but didn't say anything. She only smirked instead.

Five seconds after she smirked, something suddenly fell out from the tree onto the grass.

*THUMP*

Everyone turned to the thing that laid motionlessly on the grass. They gasped except for Sesshoumaru and Kagome.

It was a frog youkai, dressed like a bandit, that laid on the grass near the tree. Kagome's arrow had hit it right in its temple.

"Impressive shot, young lad." a voice spoke from behind the trees. "Didn't expect any less from the famous mercenary group led by Sesshoumaru."

Sesshoumaru and the rest turned to where the voice came from. A youkai appeared from behind a tree. It was a youkai that resembled a tiger. It had a yellow fur with black streaks and could walk on two legs instead of four.   
"But I'm afraid you'll regret taking this mission." the tiger smirked and made a loud roar.

Within seconds, a swarm of youkai already surrounded Sesshoumaru's group, which consisted of tigers, foxes, frogs and lizards. 

"Chikusho!! We are surrounded and completely outnumbered." Kyoukotsu shrieked as he looked around. Kouga and Renkotsu didn't say anything but inside, they were also panicking a little bit.

"Pull yourself together, Kyoukotsu!! The reward is waiting for us!!" Kagome shouted with a low voice and fired another arrow.  
Because of the high velocity and the sharp spinning arrowhead, it didn't stop after piercing through one tiger-youkai. Instead, it pierced though another 4 youkai before it hit a tree and stopped.

Astonished, yet encouraged by her words and arrow, Kyoukotsu, Renkotsu and Kouga pulled themselves together and dashed towards the youkai to attack.

Sesshoumaru blinked before he dashed towards a tiger youkai with his sword first. _And this girl was afraid that I've made the wrong decision._ he thought proudly while dashing.

A fierce battle royal began between group led by Sesshoumaru and the group led by the tiger-youkai.   
Others jumped and dashed around while Kagome just sat on her horse and fired her deadly arrows whenever it was needed.

[AN: sorry but if there's something that I ain't good at...it's describing fighting scenes ^-^]

~*~*~

After fighting for 2 hours, the swarm of youkai decreased rapidly and there were only a few left. And Kagome suddenly realized she ran out of arrows. _Chikusho!_ she cursed in her mind and looked around.

Kyoukotsu was fighting with a lizard with his huge claws, Renkotsu was cremating several frog youkai with his breath of fire and Kouga had pinned another fox youkai to a tree.

_Sesshoumaru?_ Kagome thought panicked and continued to look around her, while sitting on her horse.

She relaxed when she found him. Sesshoumaru was still alive and fighting with a tiger youkai.

Kagome's eyes widened when she saw the tiger leader appear behind Sesshoumaru.  
_He's going to attack from behind! The bastard!!_ Kagome thought angrily and quickly looked around again.

She stopped turning when a shining arrowhead caught her eye. It was the first arrow that she had fired. _Shit I might not make it in time!!_ Kagome panicked as the watched the tiger approach Sesshoumaru from behind.  
But she shook the thought off of her mind.

Without thinking any longer, Kagome jumped from her horse and dashed towards the corpse of the frog youkai.   
She pulled out the arrow in one swift motion and dashed towards Sesshoumaru.

"Sesshoumaru!! Behind you!!!" she cried out, while dashing.

Sesshoumaru heard his mate's cry and turned to see her running towards him, but quickly turned back to the tiger youkai in front of him when it launched a claw-attack at him. He quickly blocked its claw with his sword.

*CLASH*

He saw the tiger leader raise its claw behind him out of the corner of his eye but it was impossible to dodge it since he was already blocking another attack. _Damn it! This is bad!!_ Sesshoumaru gritted his teeth.  
The tiger leader swung its claw at Sesshoumaru.

*SLASH*

* * *

**Vocabulary**:  
  
**Ne:** sort of like 'hmm?' or 'isn't that right?', used when you expect a positive response; also used to get somebody's attention in a casual manner.  
**Irashai:** Welcome  
**Hai:** Yes  
**Baka:** Stupid/Moron  
**Chikusho:** Damn it  
  
Posted: 4 August 2003  
Last edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tags problem)  
Spelling check: YES 


	8. Kagome's first battle lower part: gainin...

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients into a new story.

**INTRODUCTION TO CHARACTERS OF THIS CHAPTER:**

**Miroku: **A (former) wandering houshi (=priest). He helps people by using his houshi power to earn his living. He uses prayers and ofuda's (=small rectangular papers with writing on them used to protect against or exterminate evil beings). He knows skills of an average doctor; he knows how to tend wounds and heal poisons. Miroku is now about 24 years old; he's quite wise but also quite dense. NOTE: he doesn't have a cursed hand but is still a bit lecherous.  
He got severely wounded by a youkai once during his travels 5 years ago and was saved by Sango. After she tended his wounds, they had decided to travel together. They fell in love with each other after 5 long years of traveling and fighting youkai together and they got married. 

**Sango: **A retired youkai taijiya (=exterminator). Sango had lost her family when a swarm of youkai attacked their village, that's why she decided to train herself as a youkai taijiya. She took jobs and killed youkai to earn her living. She was wandering on her own before she accidently met the wounded Miroku in the woods. Sango is now about 22 years old and a very caring and quite smart woman.

They both started a business together after they got married and had decided not to care about the war between the four kings anymore. They open their business to both youkai and humans because they've decided to ignore the disagreements between youkai and humans.

**Shippou:** A small kitsune youkai, who vowed to repay Sango and Miroku by helping them with their business after they saved him when he was chased by a youkai, who was still a child. His parents were killed by hunters when he was little and he wandered alone through the woods ever since.

**Kirara:** A fire-cat, owned by Sango. She is very loyal to Sango and stays by her side to protect and fight alongside her.

_Italic_: thoughts   
-- --: locations   
"...": spoken words   
~*~*~*~*~: time gap   
*...* : noises

* * *

  


**AN ELVES' CHILD**

-by Kittymui-

  
**Kagome's first battle (lower part): gaining respect**

**Previously:**  
"Sesshoumaru!! Behind you!!!" she cried out, while dashing.  
Sesshoumaru heard his mate's cry and turned to see her running towards him, but quickly turned back to the tiger youkai in front of him when it launched a claw-attack at him. He quickly blocked its claw with his sword.  
*CLASH*  
He saw the tiger leader raise its claw behind him out of the corner of his eye but it was impossible to dodge it since he was already blocking another attack. _Damn it! This is bad!!_ Sesshoumaru gritted his teeth.  
The tiger leader swung its claw at Sesshoumaru. 

*SLASH*

  
When Sesshoumaru heard the cracking sound of armor and clothes being torn but didn't feel anything, he quickly looked over his shoulder. 

He froze when he saw some strands of black hair falling on his shoulder out of the corner of his eye. 

_Kagome!?!_ Sesshoumaru's mind screamed as he felt a weight leaning on his back.

  
Kagome had thrown herself between the tiger-leader and Sesshoumaru and blocked the claw-attack with her own back in order to protect him. The backside of her armor broke and pieces flew everywhere. Even the back of her haori were torn apart by sharp claw of the tiger-youkai. And her braid was slashed loose in the process, causing some strands to land on Sesshoumaru's shoulder.

Kagome clasped the arrow in her one hand and her bow in the other. She groaned as she raised her head, only to see the side of Sesshoumaru's face, who was looking over his shoulder to her with a worried look on his face.

Kagome smirked weakly as determination filled her eyes. She gathered up all her strength and bent her bow.

Within a blink of an eye, Kagome had turned around and leaned her injured back onto Sesshoumaru's. She pointed her arrow at the tiger-youkai's heart and immediately fired it without saying anything.

The arrow spinned and pierced right through his heart. 

*TSRRRKK*

The tiger-youkai stood silent for a moment, realizing what had happened in the past 5 seconds and slowly raised his claw to his wound. He took several steps backwards and coughed a pool of blood to the floor. "I can't believe I've lost against a boy..." he groaned before he collapsed backwards to the grass, dead.

'Heh...s-serves...y-you...r-right..." Kagome chuckled with a hoarse voice before unconsciousness took over. She closed her eyes, dropped her bow to the grass and leaned completely onto Sesshoumaru's back. 

When Sesshoumaru felt the weight on his back increase, he knew something was wrong. He quickly pushed back the tiger-youkai he was blocking. The tiger-youkai had a shocked expression on his face as he backed away and stared wide-eyed at the motionless body that laid on the grass behind Sesshoumaru. "L-leader!?" he cried out.   
"Where are you looking at!!" Sesshoumaru roared before he caught the youkai off guard and slashed him in two with his Toukijin. The tiger-youkai dissolved in the air.

Sesshoumaru quickly turned around, only to see Kagome starting to collapse to the grass, since he had moved away. He quickly caught her limp body before it hit the grass.  
"Sora!!" he cried out, knowing that he should not reveal her true identity no matter what. His eyes widened as he saw the blood spreading all over the soil below Kagome.

Kyoukotsu, Renkotsu and Kouga all finished their last remaining opponents and jerked their heads to where the cry came from.  
Their eyes widened. "Sora-sama!!" they all cried in unison and dashed to their leader's side.

  
Kouga gasped as he saw how much blood Kagome had lost. But he quickly pulled himself together and knelt down next to Sesshoumaru. 

"Sesshoumaru-sama, I've discovered that there's a small inn nearby, let us take Sora-sama there." he said with a calm voice.

Sesshoumaru looked at Kouga and nodded. He slowly stood up, carrying Kagome in his arms and turned to Renkotsu.  
"Renkotsu, take the leader's head and retrieve our reward in Paedra. Come join us again as soon as you have retrieved it." he ordered.

Renkotsu quickly nodded. "Understood." With that he dashed into the direction of Paedra and disappeared into the trees.

Sesshoumaru sighed relieved and turned to the other two. "Let us go. Kouga, you lead the way." he ordered.  
Kouga nodded and dashed into a direction. Sesshoumaru and Kyoukotsu quickly followed.

  
~*~*~*~ Late afternoon~*~*~*~

With their speed, they've reached the inn within 5 minutes. It was a small building, not any bigger than an average residence. A small stable was located next to the inn. It kind of looked like the one in Paedra, only a much smaller version. The inn stood in a small open area with in unpaved road running in front of it.

  
Without time to lose, Sesshoumaru kicked the door of the tavern open and entered. "Quickly!! Get us a doctor!!" he shouted, still carrying the unconscious Kagome.

The front door led directly to the dining room. The stairs to the first floor stood exactly opposite to the front door, only 5 meters away. The stairs divided the ground floor into two spaces: the kitchen, which was located in the direction of the stable and the dining room.

Suddenly a woman ran down the stairs. She was wearing a loose light purple yukata embedded with white flowers, with short sleeves. Her hair was black, but not the same shade of black like Kagome's hair, and tied in a long ponytail on the back of her head. 

"What the hell are you__!!" the woman cried angrily as she reached the ground floor. She halted herself when she saw the injured young person that the silver-haired inuyoukai was carrying.  
"W-what happened?" she asked.

"A tiger-youkai." Sesshoumaru explained shortly. "Please, get a doctor. She has lost a lot of blood." he continued. He was never so afraid in his life.

_S-she??_ the hostess wondered, looking at the unconscious young lad, but quickly shook of her thoughts. _No time for questions._   
The hostess quickly ran to one of the windows, which leaded to the stables and shouted. "Shippou!! Run as fast as you can to the woods and find the master!! Tell him there is an injured person!! Go!!"

"Understood!" a young voice sounded from the stables.

  
The hostess ran back to Sesshoumaru. "She needs to lie down, please follow me." she said before running up the stairs.

Sesshoumaru quickly followed her. 

When they reached the door of the bedroom, Sesshoumaru turned to Kouga and Kyoukotsu. "Guard this room and don't let anyone in besides me and the hostess until I say so." he ordered before he went inside.  
They understood and both stood in front of each side of the door.

-- In the bedroom --

It was a small bedroom, with white painted walls and a floor made of wood. Only a cabinet and a chair stood against the wall that was opposite of the wall with the window. From the doorway, you could immediately see the bed. It was a queen-size bed build inside the wall; it was like the bed had a solid roof.

Sesshoumaru carefully laid Kagome on the bed with her back on top, since she was injured on her back. Her head laid on its side, facing the bedroom door instead of the wall.

"We should remove her armor and clean up her wound first." the hostess suggested.

Sesshoumaru nodded and sat down on the bedside. He began to take off her armor as carefully as possible, not touching the wound.

"Quite a youkai, to slash through an armor that easily." the hostess said when she saw the broken armor and torn clothes, which were stained with blood.  
She handed a towel to Sesshoumaru. "Clean up the blood around her wound, I'll get some water." she said before hurrying out of the room.

Sesshoumaru carefully ripped the already torn part of her haori further open to reveal the wound. He growled at the sight.

The bleeding had stopped and dried blood was all over her back. Among the dried blood, five dark red gashes could be seen; running from her right shoulder to the left side of her waist.

Sesshoumaru slowly placed the towel on her back and began the clean up the blood around the gashes.

"Baka! You should have let me take the blow...I'm a youkai, I'm able to heal myself...but...but you..." Sesshoumaru mumbled as he continued to clean up her back. But while he was mumbling, he accidentally touched the wound with the towel. When Kagome's body twitched by his touch, he quickly pulled away the towel.

"S-Seshoumaru..." he heard her groan.

"Kagome?" Sesshoumaru said worriedly.

"Do not... call me b-baka..." she whispered as she slightly opened her eyes. 

"You almost got yourself killed, baka!" Sesshoumaru said with a low growl.

"I...I am NOT a baka!!!" Kagome cried out, using all her strength, as she tried to jerk her head up. But she froze and gasped as the wound hurt tremendously, caused by her sudden exertion.

Kagome laid her head back down on the pillow and panted, as a few strand of hair landed in front of her eyes.

Sesshoumaru sighed and gently moved the strands away from her face back to where it belonged behind her ear. "Baka..." he sighed. "...arguing with me while you're injured."

"I'm not stupid...I-I'm brave..." she insisted. Her voice sounded weaker than before.

"Yeah...brave AND stupid." Sesshoumaru chuckled, looking at the window.

A moment of silence took place.

_Why isn't she reacting on my comment?_ Sesshoumaru wondered and looked down at Kagome.

"Kagome?" he called when he saw that her eyes were closed again.

"Kagome??" he repeated

"Kagome!!" he repeated again, starting to panic.

"What's wrong!?" the hostess asked as she entered the room again and ran to the bedside, carrying a bucket of water in her hands.

"She woke up a while ago but now she's unconscious again." Sesshoumaru explained as calm as possible.

The hostess knelt down and examined Kagome. "Well, she has lost a lot of blood." the hostess responded. "I'm surprised that she actually regained consciousness before her wound was tended."

A short moment of silence broke in until Sesshoumaru heard Kouga's voice.

"Who are you?! What is your business inside this room??" Kouga's angry voice sounded from the hallway.

Sesshoumaru frowned and became cautious.

"Such manners towards the host of his tavern." a calm male voice replied. "My name is Miroku and I was called back here by my servant, bearing the message from my wide that someone is injured and needs to be tended."

The hostess stood up and turned to Sesshoumaru. "It's my husband, he knows how to tend wounds." she explained reassuringly.

Sesshoumaru relaxed. "Let him in, Kouga." he ordered.

The door opened and a man appeared in the doorway. He looked younger than Sesshoumaru. He had black hair, but just like the hostess, his hair wasn't of the same shade of Kagome's hair. He has two small earrings in his left ear and one in the other. A small ponytail was suspending on the lower back of his head. He was dressed in a long black robe. On his back he carried a basket that looked like a fyke.

Miroku's gaze shifted from his wife to Sesshoumaru and then to the person on the bed.

"Get me my toolbox." he said to the hostess before walking towards the wall and putting down the basket on his back. The hostess nodded and exited the room.

Sesshoumaru finally saw the content of the basket. It was filled with all kinds of herbs and plants.

Miroku felt his gaze on him. " I went out to the woods to gather herbs." he explained.

Sesshoumaru didn't say anything, he only stood next to the bed and watched Miroku approach the bedside.

"So this is the injured person." he said as he knelt down. At the same time, the hostess returned and put down a small box next to Miroku on the floor.

Miroku visually examined the wound. "I see..." he mumbled before he stood and turned to the hostess. "I'll need a bowl of boiled disinfecting herbs and some bandages." he ordered. The woman nodded and hurried out of the room again.  
He turned to Sesshoumaru and scanned his arms and clothes. "I think you'll need a bath." he stated plainly.

Sesshoumaru looked down to his clothes. He didn't have the time to notice before but his sleeves and hakama were indeed stained with Kagome's blood. He looked over at Kagome and then shifted his gaze to Miroku suspiciously.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure he won't." the hostess' voice spoke from the doorway. She was holding a small pot in one hand and a basket full of bandages in the other.

"The bathroom is two doors further down the hall. There are clothes lying near the bath for you to wear until I've washed your garments." she explained as she entered the room and put the basket on the chair next to the cabinet.

Sesshoumaru thought for a while before he nodded and left the room silently.

After Sesshoumaru closed the door behind him. He turned to his companions. "Guard this room and notice me if there's something wrong." he ordered. Kouga and Kyoukotsu nodded.  
With that, Sesshoumaru made his way to the bathroom.

~*~

"Sango! What did you mean by that?!" Miroku asked annoyed after he watched the inuyoukai leave the room.

"Preventing him from shredding you into pieces, you moron." Sango explained as she put down the pot with boiled herbs. She looked at the unconscious Kagome. "This girl must be very important to him."  
She turned to Miroku. "You know what? You'll tell me how to tend her wound and I'll be your hands." she suggested. "Surely the youkai wouldn't want to smell your scent on this girl." she said as she sat down on the bedside.

"B-but!"

"No but's!" Sango cut him off. "Knowing you, you shouldn't even be here at all!" Sango spat. "Now stop arguing with me and tell me what to do!"

  
~*~*~Around evening~*~*~

After taking a bath, Sesshoumaru put on the clothes that the Sango prepared for him. It was a white haori and hakama, just like the one he was wearing before.

When he returned, he told Kouga and Kyoukotsu that they didn't have to guard the room anymore and that they could wait downstairs. Both youkai obeyed and went downstairs to the dining room.

  
Sesshoumaru sat down on the bedside and watched Kagome's sleeping form. _That Miroku's scent isn't on her body._ Sesshoumaru thought relieved as he noticed the white bandage around her body. Kagome was wearing a white sleeping gown that was slightly see-through.

He dropped his face as he remembered what the hostess told him when she was about to leave the room with the pot and bandages and Kagome's outfit. 

  
[FLASHBACK]

"I have tend her wounds and given her different clothes. I'm going downstairs to wash the garments." the hostess explained to Sesshoumaru, who stood by the bedside. "But_" she suddenly added. "it's still a question whether she'll regain consciousness again since she had lost so much blood."  
The hostess walked towards the door and opened the door. "She will have to fight through this on her own."   
With that she walked out of the room and closed the door behind her.

[END FLASHBACK]

  
Sesshoumaru looked up at Kagome's face, which was facing him as she laid on her stomach. He raised his hand to her cheek and stroked it.

"You have to wake up Kagome...you have to..." he whispered softly, with a sad tone in his voice.

  
~*~*~*~ In the meantime ~*~*~*~

To Kyoukotsu and Kouga's surprise, Kagome's horse had loyally followed them to the inn and was standing in front of the door. After they had explained explained that the injured person owned the horse, the horse was allowed to stay in the stables. 

Kyoukotsu and Kouga sat downstairs at a large oval dining table, which stood in the middle of the dining room. The dining table had 8 chairs in total, and all were made of wood. It wasn't a large dining room, but it was very cozy. There was a small fireplace in one of the walls made of stone. For the rest, there weren't much decorations, except for some dried plants and flowers hanging on the walls.

"I wonder if Kagome-sama will be okay..." Kyoukotsu suddenly started.

Kouga almost jumped up of shock. "Baka! It's Sora-sama!!" he panicked. "What if they hear__"

Kouga was cut off by the hostess' voice as she walked down the stairs. "You don't need to hide it anymore, I already know." she said with a calm voice.

"WHAT!?!" Kouga jumped up of his chair.

"You might want to lower your voice, everybody's sleeping, you know??" the woman shushed him.

Kouga suddenly realized it was bedtime and slowly sat down again.

The hostess smiled. "I tended her wounds, that's why I know." she explained as she sat down on one of the chairs facing Kouga and Kyoukotsu.

"Thank you." Kouga said politely after a moment of silence.

"Don't thank me too soon, it's still a question whether she'll wake up again." she replied.

"I know...but still I want to thank you for helping us, in spite of the fact that we're youkai." Kouga responded.

"My husband and me do not care about the disagreements between youkai and human anymore. We just keep ourselves to our little business." she smiled. "If youkai don't bother us with threats, that is."

"There aren't many customers." Kyoukotsu finally decided to join the conversation.

"That's correct. Humans fear us for welcoming youkai and youkai hate us for being humans." the hostess explained. 

"But there are still those who travel alongside the unpaved road and take a break here, enough to support our lives here." she added.

A short moment of silence broke in until the hostess suddenly stood up. "Oh right, I haven't introduced myself yet." she said cheerfully. "My name is Sango. And you've already met my husband before, his name is Miroku. And the little help in the stables is Shippou."

Kouga smiled. "I'm Kouga." he said and pointed at Kyoukotsu next to him. "And this is Kyoukotsu." 

"Alright then, Kouga and Kyoukotsu..." she repeated their names for herself. "Are you guys hungry?"

Kouga and Kyoukotsu hesitated for a moment before they slightly nodded.

"Okay then, I'll__" Sango was cut off when the front door smacked open.

"I'm BACK!!" a voice cried from the doorway.

Everyone turned their attention to the person standing at the doorway, who held a large bag in his hand.

Sango turned to Kouga and gave him a puzzled look.

Kouga sighed. "That's Renkotsu." he explained. "One of our group members, he went back to Paedra to get our reward."

"In short, we're a group of mercenaries that earn our living by completing missions. And Kagome-sama was injured during our mission." 

"I see..." Sango replied. "Well, mercenaries can still be hungry." she smiled. "I'll be right back with something to eat." With that she entered the kitchen.

Renkotsu didn't quite understand the situation and shrugged before he walked towards the dining table.

*KCCHHIINGG*

He put the large bag with a thump on the wooden table and smirked. "Our reward guys!" Renkotsu said proudly. "Five thousand gold pieces!!" 

Renkotsu stopped cheering when he realized nobody was responding. He noticed their saddened expressions.

Then it suddenly struck Renkotsu. "She's not..." he said in disbelief. 

"She's still unconscious and might not wake up again." Sango spoke as she came out of the kitchen, holding a small pot and several soup plates.

Kyoukotsu suddenly slammed his fist on the wooden table. "Damn it! I...I haven't even had the chance to apologize to her for looking down on her..." he growled.

At the same time Kouga and Renkotsu lowered their faces to the floor.

*silence*

"You all must be tired..." Sango suddenly started after she put the pot and plates on the table. "I have cleaned up several rooms. You can go upstairs and rest after you've finished eating." she said as she spooned up the soup from the pot and filled the plates.

  
The three youkai finished their soup silently and went upstairs to their rooms.

~*~*~*~

  
Three days have passed and Kagome still hadn't woke up from her coma. And Sesshoumaru had not left the bedroom even for a second. Sometimes Kouga would leave a jug of water and some food on the floor in front of the bedroom door. The jug would be empty at the end of the day but the food would remain untouched.

During these days, Kouga, Renkotsu and Kyoukotsu would help Miroku and Sango with the inn. Kouga would stay at the inn and help with all kinds of chores. Renkotsu and Kyoukotsu would keep Miroku company when he's going to gather herbs out in the woods.

Not that they liked the work, but they still had to do something to kill the time. They were worried sick about their leader and Kagome, but there was nothing they could do but to wait.

  
~*~*~*~

  
Another five days have passed, and still, nothing had changed. 

Sesshoumaru, like always, was sitting on the bedside and looking at Kagome's sleeping face. 

"Will I ever see those beautiful blue orbs again?" he thought aloud as he strokes her cheek with the back of his hand. He lowered himself to her face and place a soft kiss on her forehead.

Sesshoumaru had become weak after eight long days without eating anything. Even for a full-blooded youkai like himself, eight days was still a bit much. Especially after that fierce battle.

"I'm sorry for giving up that easily." Sesshoumaru whispered as he stood up and walked towards the door. "But I don't want to see you like this when I lose hope completely." he said before he took one last look at the sleeping Kagome and left the room, closing the door behind him.

[AN: Sesshoumaru is wearing his normal outfit.]

  
~*~*~*~

Kagome twitched her eyelids before she slowly opened them._ Where_... She thought puzzled.  
Everything was blurry at first, but things began to take shape through her eyes after a while. It was an unfamiliar bedroom to Kagome, with only a chair and cabinet.

Kagome gently pushed herself up from the bed. She noticed she was lying on a queensize bed build in the wall. 

_Ehh??_ she thought surprised when she realized she was wearing a long white nightgown instead of her normal outfit. She looked at the white bandage, which was wound around her shoulder and body.  
_That's right...I got wounded after I shielded Sesshoumaru from the claw-attack._ Kagome remembered.

_Sesshoumaru...?_ Kagome didn't know why, but she really wanted to see him right now.   
Without second thought, Kagome sat up and moved to the bedside.

As soon as she set her foot on the wooden floor, a surge of pain ran through her back, causing her to wince. _Ite...I haven't fully recovered yet..._ Kagome thought painfully. But she ignored the pain and continued to climb off the bed.  
With much effort she finally managed to stand up without falling and grabbed the windowsill for support.

Her attention turned to the small pond outside when her eyes caught a silverhaired figure. 

  
-- In the small garden --

  
Sesshoumaru stood near the pond that was located in the small garden of the inn. The garden wasn't big; it only had a small oval shaped pond with rocks around it on the ground.   
Honestly, the inn didn't even need a garden, since there were already tons of trees surrounding it.

He was looking at the bottom of the pond and deep in thoughts. _It must be my imagination...Kagome's scent should not be approaching at all..._ he thought, as a sad expression appeared on his face.

Suddenly he heard some grass rustling and quickly looked over his shoulder.

His eyes widened when he saw a familiar figure with raven black hair dressed in white, but his emotionless expression took over again before he turned to the pond again.

"Go away..." he muttered under his breath.

Kagome was taken aback by those cold words. She could barely stand properly on her trembling and weak legs. 

"You're just my imagination...stop haunting me and go away..." she heard him growl softly.

Kagome smiled weakly. _ He's afraid that I'm made up from his imagination and despair. _

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes when the rustling continued. _Damn it... leave me alone...stop playing with my mind!!!_ he cursed his mind.

  
*rustle rustle....silence*

  
He sighed when the rustling finally stopped.

He tensed his body when he suddenly felt something wrapping around his waist. Sesshoumaru opened his eyes and looked down, only to see two delicate hand resting on his chest.  
He hesitated for a while before he raised his hands to touch the two hands.  
Sesshoumaru held each hand in his and widened his eyes. 

_They're cold...but they're real!!!_ he thought surprised.

Sesshoumaru quickly let go of the hands and turned around, only to find himself looking into two beautiful dark blue eyes. The ones he longed for for the past eight days, which seemed like eternity.

"K-Kagome...?" he whispered as he raised his hand to her cheek. "Is it really you?" he wondered aloud as he cupped her cheek with his hand.

Kagome touched his hand with her hand and smiled weakly.

"_B_aka...o_f_course it's me..." Kagome said with a weak and hoarse voice.

Without saying anything else, Sesshoumaru pulled her into his embrace and hugged her tight. When he felt her wince in his arms, he suddenly remembered her wounds and loosened his grip a little.

Kagome wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned against his chest. "I...missed...you..." she whispered.

"Me too." Sesshoumaru responded before he pulled away slightly to look in her eyes. 

Kagome had to push back her tears of joy as she saw the relieve and joy in Sesshoumaru's eyes. Before she knew, his lips had already caught hers in a passionate kiss.

  
~*~*~*~

  
Renkotsu, Kyoukotsu and Miroku finally returned from the woods. Kouga, Sango and Shippou finished cleaning the stables.

They were now sitting at the dining table, except for Sango and Miroku who were preparing supper, chatting and waiting for their meal at the same time.

"Shouldn't we call Sesshoumaru-sama?" Kouga suddenly asked, when Sango came out of the kitchen and put some dishes on the table.

"I don't think he's in the mood of eating anything. Anyway let's eat!! I'm starving!" Kyoukotsu replied hasty and held up his plate to Sango.

  
"How are you jump into conclusions without asking me first?" a voice spoke from the doorway. The voice didn't sound angry.

Everyone turned their attention to the doorway.

Kyoukotsu quickly put his plate on the table when he realized who it was. "B-but I thought...Kagome-sama..." he halted himself when he noticed that Sesshoumaru was carrying a familiar person in his arms.

His eyes widened as he realized who is was, Kyoukotsu and Kouga did the same at the same time. "K-Kagome-sama!!!" he cried out.

  
To Kagome's surprise, all three youkai jumped out of their chairs and kneeled in front of Sesshoumaru, with their heads facing the floor. [AN: With one knee up and the other on the floor, like a knight kneeling in front of a king]

"W-what are you guys__" Kagome asked startled but was cut of by Renkotsu.

"I apologize for my disrespectful and impudent behavio r before, Kagome-sama." he said with a low voice, without looking up.

Kagome widened her eyes.

"We would like Kagome-sama to know that we respect her and will continue to do so for the rest of our lives." Kyoukotsu continued.

"And we will always be loyal to her and Sesshoumaru-sama." Kouga finished.

Kagome couldn't say anything; she only looked down at the three youkai that kneeled down for her. 

When she looked up at Sesshoumaru, he only smiled at her.

Kagome wanted to say something, but before she could do it, her body became gradually limp and exhausted. _M-my body...I feel...so...tired...._ Kagome thought as she slowly closed her eyes and let her head fall against Sesshoumaru's chest.

Sesshoumaru's eyes widened when he felt Kagome's head against his chest. 

"Kagome!" he called out worriedly.

Kyoukotsu, Renkotsu and Kouga quickly looked up and all cried out her name worriedly at the same time. "Kagome-sama!!"

Sango smiled. "Don't worry, she's only sleeping." Sango said reassuringly, standing behind the dining table.

[AN: In case you might be wondering the whereabouts of Kirara, she's outside guarding the stables most of the time.]

* * *

Posted: 11 August 2003  
Last Edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tags problem)  
Spelling check: YES 


	9. Sudden encounter

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients into a new story.

_Italic_: thoughts   
-- --: locations   
"...": spoken words   
~*~*~*~*~: time gap / or change of POV  
*...* : noises

* * *

  


**AN ELVES' CHILD**

-by Kittymui-

  
**Sudden encounter**

_Uhn..._ Kagome slowly opened her eyes.

"You're finally awake." a familiar voice spoke next to her.

Kagome looked up and saw Sesshoumaru sitting on the bedside, next to her.

"Sesshoumaru..." she whispered softly, slowly pushing herself up.

Sesshoumaru quickly put his arms behind her back and helped her to sit up. "How are you feeling?" he asked with a gentle voice.

Kagome leaned her head on Sesshoumaru's chest, after she managed to sit up. "I'm okay...just feeling a bit weak, that's all." she murmured.

  
"Ah! You're awake!!" a child's voice sounded from the doorway. Kagome and Sesshoumaru turned to the person who spoke and saw a small brown kitsune youkai standing at the doorway with a glass of water in his tiny hands.

He was wearing a small yellow shirt with short blue pants. He had a small brown ponytail and a fuzzy short brown tail. If he would stand next to Kagome, he would be around the height of her knees.

_Kawaii!_ Kagome thought to herself. "Hi, little one. I'm Kagome, what's your name?" she started with a cheerful voice.

Shippou put down the glass of water on the chair next to the cabinet and walked to the bedside, looking up at Sesshoumaru and Kagome. 

"I-I'm Shippou." he answered with a small voice.

Kagome noticed the fear in the small kitsune's eyes when they were looking at Sesshoumaru. She smiled. "Don't worry, he won't hurt you."

Shippou relaxed and smiled. "Supper is almost ready, please change your clothes and come downstairs to join us." he said before he hurried out of the room.

  
"So...let's get you dressed up then." Sesshoumaru said after a short moment of silence.

Kagome suddenly remembered what happened to her garments and sighed. "But my garments and armor were..." she said with a sad voice. "Even the bow and arrows that you bought for me..." she wailed.

Sesshoumaru didn't reply, instead, he stood up and walked towards the cabinet. He opened it, picked up something and walked back to Kagome.  
When Kagome looked at what Sesshoumaru was holding in his hands, her eyes widened.  
Sesshoumaru was holding her garments and armor, exactly the same as the one that was torn apart during their mission, but this one wasn't even damaged at all.

Sesshoumaru put them on Kagome's lap and walked to the cabinet again. This time he picked up something that was lying on the ground next to the cabinet and walked back to Kagome again.

Kagome's widened her eyes even more as she realized they were a bow and a quiver with arrows that he was holding. It looked more beautiful than the one Sesshoumaru bought before. The bow and quiver were made of dark wood. The grip of the bow and the edges of the quiver were coated with iron in order to strengthen the structure. The arrows were blessed with silver arrowheads, fine sturdy wood and stabilizing cross-shaped feathered tails.

"H-how??" Kagome said surprised, looking up at Sesshoumaru.

"Kouga went back to Paedra yesterday." he explained. "You've really gained a lot of respect out of my men." he smirked.

Kagome was almost going to cry of hearing this but quickly pushed back her tears. She took the bow and quiver of his hands and held it close to her chest. "Thank you..." she whispered.

  
~*~*~*~ In the meanwhile ~*~*~*~

Renkotsu, Kyoukotsu and Kouga were sitting at the dining table and waiting for supper. Miroku and Sango were busy in the kitchen and Shippou was walking in and out of the kitchen, carrying all sorts of dishes and putting them on the dining table.

"That smells really nice." a soft voice spoke from the stairs, causing Shippou and the rest to stop their activities and turn their attention to the person who spoke.

"Kagome-sama!" Kouga cried out happily and all three youkai wanted to stand up from their chairs until Kagome stopped them. "No no! No need to stand up." she smiled.

Kagome was standing on the stairs (halfway) with Sesshoumaru next to her; holding her hand to steady her. Kagome was wearing her male outfit again, but this time without the armor on top; only the haori and hakama.

"Ah! The sleeping beauty finally woke up again!" a voice spoke from the doorway to the kitchen.

Kagome turned to the person who spoke as she settled herself on a chair at the table. She gave him a puzzled look until a woman came out of the kitchen and hit the man's head with a spoon. 

"If you have time to talk crap, then you should help me bring out the pot!" she ordered angrily.

_They look like a couple to me..._ Kagome thought amused. _This woman seems very strong to me..._   
The woman approached Kagome. She was wearing a normal light purple yukata with short sleeves and her hair was tied into one long ponytail.

"I'm apologize for my husband's behavior, he's always like that around pretty ladies." the woman apologized.

Kagome shook her head. "It's okay." she said as she stood up again.

"I'm Kagome, but they all refer me as Sora when I'm supposed to hide the fact that I'm a woman." she smiled.

"Mine's Sango and yes, I believe I've already caught you name several times yesterday." the woman chuckled. Her words caused Kagome to blush.

"My name is Miroku, nice to meet you, Kagome-sama." Miroku said as he came out of the kitchen again, carrying a large pot.

"I heard from Sesshoumaru that you both saved my life." Kagome said. "Thank you.

"No need to thank us." he responded as he put down the pot on the table and walked to Sango's side. "We only did what we could. It really depended on your own strength whether you'll wake up again." he explained.

"No time for chit-chats!!" Sango suddenly broke through the conversation. "The food is getting cold and it would be a waste since we've put so much effort cooking it!!"

Kagome laughed at her seriousness towards the food and soon everybody shared the laughter as they all sat down and began to eat.

They talked about all kinds of things: about how Kagome met Sesshoumaru, how they got married, how the mission went and so on.

  
~*~*~*~ two weeks later ~*~*~*~

Sango stood in front of the inn with Miroku behind her. Shippou and Kirara were working in the stable. 

Sesshoumaru and the three youkai stood on the unpaved road, equipped and ready to leave. They were only waiting for Kagome.

  
"If we had met you sooner, we would surely have joined your group." Sango said as she handed over a bag filled with nourishments to Kagome.

At the same time Shippou appeared with Kagome's horse out of the stable. He drove the horse next to Kagome, and jumped from the horseback to Sango's shoulder. "We'll really miss you guys!" he said with a sad voice.

Kagome smiled. "I'm sure our roads will cross each other again someday." she said before she took the bag and turned around to attach it to her horse. 

Kagome was wearing her male outfit and armor again and her hair was tied into one braid, resting on her shoulder. With her quiver on her back and bow on her shoulder, she mounted the horse.   
After she settled herself on it, she turned to look at Sango and Shippou and then Miroku. "Thank you for your hospitality the past weeks. Till we meet again." she said before she kicked the horse and drove it towards the rest of her group.

"Goodbye!" Sango and Shippou said in unison as they waved after them. Miroku came forward to stand next to Sango and did the same.

  
~*~*~*~ A couple of hours later ~*~*~*~

  
Sesshoumaru was walking in front of the whole group again. The rest were positioned just like when they did during their mission: Kagome in de middle with her horse, one on her left, one on her right and the last one walking behind her.

The road they were walking on turned into a low dyke again. The road had gradually risen not long after they left the inn, and they were now traveling about 2 meters above the ground where the trees stood.

After riding a while, Kagome couldn't resist to ask the question again. 

"Where are we heading?" 

Without looking back at her or stopping, Sesshoumaru answered her question. "Following this road till we reach the next city or town, so that we can accomplish another mission."

"Ehh?! Another mission?? But we've just had one 3 weeks ago!" Kagome cried out.

"There's no other choice. We need the money." he stated plainly. "Buying your new garments and weapons took quite a part of the reward we got from the mission."

"Then you're blaming me?" Kagome responded with an annoyed look all over her face.

"No, I'm just telling you the facts." he replied.

"Humpf!!" Kagome spat defeated and stuck up her nose.

[AN: Yes, they are still walking during their arguments.]

Kouga suddenly chuckled as soon as they stopped arguing.

"What's so funny??" Kagome said as she jerked her head towards Kouga.

Kouga averted his gaze in order to stop himself from bursting into laughter. "N-nothing! Nothing!!" he excused.

"Tell me or__" Kagome growled but halted herself and her horse when she heard some noise.   
The rest of the group had also heard it and stopped their pace at the same time.

"What was that?" Renkotsu said alerted.

Sesshoumaru and Kagome scanned the area around them. Since they were walking on a dyke, it wasn't difficult to see the vicinity around them, although there were only trees around them.  
Suddenly Kagome's eyes caught a glimpse of red at a far distance in the middle of the woods. 

Sesshoumaru also saw it, and growled. _Is it him? No...it shouldn't be..._ he pondered.

"There!" Kagome cried out as soon as she lost the glimpse of red out of her eyesight. Kagome quickly kicked her horse, causing it to run to the edge of the dyke and jump from it into the forest.

"Kagome-sama!! Wait!!" Kouga, Renkotsu and Kyoukotsu cried in unison, before they all turned to Sesshoumaru.

Sesshoumaru returned the look and nodded. "Let's go!" he ordered. With that, Sesshoumaru jumped off the dyke and dashed into the direction Kagome disappeared; the rest did the same.

  
~*~*~

Kagome was driving her horse into the direction where she saw the flash of red. _ I wonder what's happening there..._ she wondered as she continued her way through the trees.

She narrowed her eyes and slowed down her horse as she reached the clearing. Suddenly her eyes caught something dashing very fast into the direction straight ahead of Kagome. When she looked more carefully, she realized it was a tiger youkai; almost the same one that she killed during their mission.

Kagome quickly halted her horse.

_I thought we had killed every one of them!!?_ Kagome's eyes widened in shock, but quickly shook off her thoughts when she realized the youkai was about to attack someone in the same direction. She couldn't see who it was, since the big tiger youkai had covered most of the sight. She could only see some parts of the person's clothes, which had the same shade of red she saw from the road.

Without second thoughts, Kagome quickly pulled out an arrow of her quiver and drew her bow. She fired her arrow as soon as she aimed at his heart on the back of the tiger.

The arrow flew swiftly through the air and hit the tiger youkai right in the heart. Just like before, the arrow spun and bore right through the youkai's chest and hit the tree.

Kagome saw that the youkai had stopped. And she concluded that nobody was hurt, since there were no cries.   
Kagome sighed relieved. _Pfew...made it just in time..._ she thought as she lowered her bow to her lap.

She didn't realize before but Kagome realized there were two more persons present in the same clearing. 

"Are you okay??" Kagome heard them cry out as they ran to the person, who was sitting on the grass in front of the frozen tiger. [AN: The tiger's back is facing Kagome.]

_A-are they human??_ Kagome wondered in puzzlement, since they both looked like humans. She looked more carefully and began to doubt the possibility that they were humans.

One of them had black eyes and black hair tied in a very long braid reaching down his waist. A purple cross-shaped mark could be seen on his forehead.  
He was dressed in some fairly rich clothes: a white haori with a blue dragon-shaped figure embedded on the left shoulder and a white hakama. He wore armor over his haori that covered most of his chest, a small part of his lower body and his left shoulder with a single shoulder guard. The armor is mostly light purple and a red sash is tied around his armor by his waist, of which the ends are hanging lose down his knees.  
The end of his sleeves and bottom of his pant legs weren't loose around his wrists and ankles. His sleeves were wrapped inside the gray guards that he's wearing on his arms, which covered his whole lower arms from the back of his hands to somewhere near his elbows. The bottom of his pant legs were wrapped inside a pair of gray boots that reached halfway up his upper legs.  
The most eye-catching thing was the huge halberd that he was carrying. The youkai was holding it by the lower part of its grip and the upper part was practically resting on his shoulder as if it wasn't heavy at all; the part that could cut was way above his head, pointing diagonally at the sky as he ran towards the third person. 

The other one had slit brown eyes, thin eyebrows, a high forehead, pointed ears and black hair in a very long thin braided ponytail to his waist.  
He was wearing a white sleeveless haori with a black figure embedded on the left side and a pair of black pants below. He wears brown colored armor over his haori and arm- and shoulder guards on both his shoulders and arms. The shoulder guards are red and attached to his shoulder with two blue sashes, which are wounded all over his chest and tied around his waist.  
The red part of the arm guards covered his whole lower arms, from the back of his hands to his elbows. And the part covering the topsides of his upper arms are gray colored.  
This one was armed with a long spear in his one hand.

The tiger youkai finally collapsed to the ground as soon as they both knelt down.

The third person was revealed.

Kagome's eyes widened in shock as she saw third person. The person had turned the back of his head to Kagome and was obviously watching the arrow that she had fired.   
The third person had long silver hair with a pair of white dog-ears on each side of his head. He was wearing a red shirt made of fire rat's fur. And below, he was wearing a red hakama of which the bottom of the pant legs was tied to his ankles. 

"What happened?" Kagome heard the other two ask in unison. 

The silver haired person turned his head to the other two and said something. Kagome could now see the side of his face.   
Kagome was watching them silently and secretly until her horse gave away her presence by neighing. The three figures quickly looked in her direction.

Kagome widened her eyes even more when she saw the whole face of the silver haired person.

  
_S-Sesshoumaru...!?!_

~*~*~*~*~ About 1 hour ago ~*~*~*~*~

  
"Just leave us alone, will you?!" one of the three youkai cried out angrily.

They were walking through the forest peacefully until they were suddenly surprised by this tiger youkai who came running from behind the trees and attacked the leader of their mercenary group, only crying frustratingly the same words over and over again: "You!! You massacred our whole gang!! Die! You bastard!!"  
The tiger youkai was clearly injured by something or someone before. His nose was wounded, his eyes were slightly injured and his garments and armor were stained with dried blood.

"Hehehe..." the tiger youkai smirked. "I won't leave until I've avenged my brothers and fellows..."

"I really don't know what you're talking about!" he yelled as he unsheathed his blade. "But I guess I'll have to beat you up first before you'll listen to us and come to reason." he growled as he turned the blade into a huge fang.

"Yo Inuyasha! You really thinking about fighting him?" the youkai, who stood next to the first one, asked worriedly. 

"Shut up Bankotsu! Can't you see he's preparing for battle??" the third one spoke. 

They were all standing in a small clearing. The tiger youkai on the one side and the three other young youkai on the other.

"I'm just going to shut him up and then we can continue our journey, okay?!" Inuyasha cried out before he lunged forward to the tiger youkai with his blade.

After fighting a while, Inuyasha and the rest realized that Inuyasha alone cannot defeat the tiger youkai and soon they all three fought against it.

  
~*~*~*~*~  
[AN: You might be wondering why the tiger youkai didn't realize it wasn't Sesshoumaru, well, it's because his nose and eyes are injured during the battle with Sesshoumaru's group.]

  
*Huff puff puff...* Inuyasha panted heavily. "Dammit! Why won't you just die!" he yelled angrily. 

Bankotsu and Hiten were also tired and both leaned on their weapons , which were stabbed in the earth, panting; at a distance from Inuyasha. 

The tiger youkai was also panting, but not as heavy as them. A couple of fresh cuts could be seen on his body, but he's not seriously wounded.

[AN: Meaning that Bankotsu, Hiten and Inuyasha together are just a bit above the level of the tiger youkai. An enraged and injured (in a berserk state) youkai is far more powerful than one at a normal state, you know? ^-^.]

The tiger smirked. "I told you so...*pant pant* ...I won't die before taking you with me..." 

It was obvious that the tiger was only aiming for Inuyasha, since he had only been attacking him for the past hour. As for Bankotsu and Hiten, the tiger youkai had been dodging their attacks and smashing them aside most of the time.

Suddenly the tiger youkai surprised Inuyasha by lunging forward at him with his claw first. Inuyasha realized it too late and wasn't able to dodge the sudden attack.  
In a split second, Inuyasha was thrown against a tree with great force, causing him to collapse to the grass. Blood came out of the corner of Inuyasha's mouth as he groaned of the pain. He was paralyzed by the shock for a moment, when he looked up again; he saw that the youkai was dashing towards him again. 

Bankotsu and Hiten began to make their way towards Inuyasha and ran as fast as they could. But they knew they wouldn't make it in time to save him from the tiger youkai. "Dammit!" they cursed at the same time.

Inuyasha cursed in his mind as he shifted his annoyed look from the tiger youkai to his friends. _Chikusho!! I told you we should have taken the right turn..._

Suddenly, a swift sound could be heard, followed by the sound of something hitting wood.

*SSHHFFFFFFFF*...............*TJOCK*

  
When nothing came, Inuyasha looked up at the tiger youkai again. His eyes widened.

His claw was only an inch away from Inuyasha's chest but the youkai wasn't moving anymore. 

_What the hell?!_ Inuyasha thought surprised.  
The youkai had stopped in the middle of the attack and only stood there in front of Inuyasha, who was still sitting on the grass.

Bankotsu and Hiten had stopped running towards Inuyasha when they saw the frozen youkai. 

  
*drip drip*

Inuyasha's thoughts were cut off by the dripping sound. His eyes caught the red stain on the tiger's chest. 

It was blood.

_A wound?? Who...?? What__?_ Inuyasha pondered until an idea came into his mind. He quickly jerked his head to the tree behind him and as soon as he turned around, his question was answered.

An arrow, stained with blood, was resting against the tree with its arrowhead inside the tree stump. Small drops of blood were dripping off the cross-shaped feathered tail onto the grass behind Inuyasha.

_An arrow?!? W-who..._ Inuyasha was shocked and could only stare at the arrow that saved his life.

"Are you okay??" Bankotsu and Hiten cried out as they approached Inuyasha. 

They knelt down next to him. "What happened?" they asked in unison. At the same time, the tiger youkai collapsed to the grass, dead.

"I don't know." Inuyasha replied, finally taking his eyes off the arrow and turning to his friends. "I thought I was a goner for a moment, but this arrow saved me__"

Their attention were immediately drawn by a sudden neigh of a horse and they jerked their heads into the direction of the sound. Only to see a horse with a person sitting on it.

Inuyasha widened his eyes in shock when he shifted his gaze from the horse to the person who sat on it.

  
_S-Sesshoumaru...!?!_

* * *

**Vocabulary:**  
**Kitsune:** fox  
**Kawaii:** cute  
**Chikusho:** Damn

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**EXPLANATIONS OF THE CHARACTERS IN THIS CHAPTER:**

**Inuyasha:**   
Sesshoumaru's half brother; same father, different mother. Unlike Sesshoumaru, who's a full-blooded youkai, he's a hanyou (half demon, half human). Sesshoumaru had always disliked the fact that his father remarried after his mother died, he even more disliked it when he found out she was human. That's why he didn't want to mention about Inuyasha a couple of chapters ago.   
Inuyasha is 5 years younger than Sesshoumaru, which makes him 20 years old. He's a very caring hanyou with a good heart and he's willing to give his life to a person he wants to protect.  
On the other hand, he's quite reckless, stubborn and doesn't like to be ordered around. You can say he's the leader of his "group" mercenaries, consisting of Bankotsu and Hiten. But they are in fact good friends and they rather treat each other equally.  
Inuyasha carries a fang (sword) called Tetsusaiga that he got from his father. Tetsusaiga looks like a broken blade at first when unsheathed, but whenever Inuyasha wants to protect someone with it, youkai or human, it will turn into a huge and powerful fang. Inuyasha can also fight with his claws.

**Bankotsu:**   
A youkai who uses a great halberd to fight. Bankotsu can summon the power of lightning. Bankotsu looks like a human, that's why he was also picked on by youkai very often when he was young and that's how he got to know Inuyasha, since he's was also a bit of an outcast among the youkai.   
They first challenged each other to see who was stronger, but they became good friends after it ended in a draw.   
Bankotsu is not an evil youkai, he's only cruel and heartless to people or youkai, who deserves to be killed. He's smart and considerate and does most of the thinking of the three. Bankotsu is 21 years old

**Hiten:**   
Also a youkai, who fights with his spear embedded with the power of lightning. This youkai also looks like a human. At first, he hated himself for looking like a human; he didn't understand why a full-blooded youkai could look like a human. But when he met Bankotsu and Inuyasha and saw that both of them could be strong too, in spite of the fact that they were cast out of the youkai society, he changed his way of thinking and became friends with them.  
Hiten is quite reckless when it comes to battles, but he's not evil. He's also very arrogant and likes to show off in front of girls. Hiten is 20 years old, just like Inuyasha.

Three of them decided to become mercenaries together and travel across the Western Lands to search for all kinds of adventures.

[AN: I have decided to put the explanations about characters at the end instead of the beginning of a chapter, in order not to reveal about the characters of this chapter too soon ^-^!!]  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Posted: 16 August 2003  
Last Edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tags problem)  
Spelling check: YES 


	10. Reunion

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients into a new story.

_Italic_: thoughts   
-- --: locations   
"...": spoken words   
~*~*~*~*~: time gap   
*...* : noises

* * *

  


**AN ELVES' CHILD**

-by Kittymui-

  
**Reunion**

**Previously:**  
Kagome widened her eyes even more when she saw the whole face of the silver haired person.

Inuyasha widened his eyes in shock when he shifted his gaze from the horse to the person who sat on it.

_S-Sesshoumaru...!?!_

  
~*~*~*~

Hiten and Bankotsu immediately jumped up. 

"Who are you!? Show yourself!!" Bankotsu yelled as he held his halberd ready. Hiten did the same with his spear.

Kagome hesitated for a while, but finally decided to come out of the shadows.

_Sesshoumaru...?_ Inuyasha wondered as he watched the figure that was gradually revealed as the horse came into the clearing. _The garments and armor are identical yet slightly different than Sesshoumaru's... _ Inuyasha thought to himself as he narrowed his eyes.

The horse stopped after it came out of the shadows and the person on the horse was completely revealed by the sunlight.

Inuyasha widened his eyes as he saw the raven black braid resting on the person's shoulder. _No...it's not Sesshoumaru..._ he thought, slightly relieved. He relaxed when he saw the bow and recognized the arrows that the person was carrying. But a lot of question appeared in his mind as he scanned the young archer. _He's wearing almost the same outfit...but he's...human? Who is he...?_ Inuyasha mused. _ He looks definitely younger than me...he looks around the 17..._

Hiten and Bankotsu both lowered their weapons when they realized it was this boy who had shot the arrow and saved their friend. 

A moment of silence blew over as the three youkai stared at the young archer.  
Inuyasha didn't know why, but he just couldn't take his eyes off of those depthless blue orbs of the boy sitting on the horse.  
The same went for Kagome. _He...is it him...?_ she wondered as she continued to stare into those familiar golden orbs.

  
"Never imagined to see you here, Inuyasha." a voice suddenly spoke from behind the young archer.

_This voice!!_ Inuyasha thought surprised.

Four shadows appeared next to the horse and approached the clearing. The bright sunlight revealed respectively Sesshoumaru, Renkotsu, Kouga and Kyoukotsu.

Inuyasha's body tensed as he saw him. "Sesshoumaru!!!" he cried out, not believing his own eyes.

Kagome shifted her gaze from Sesshoumaru, who stood next to her, to the silverhaired one in front of her and then back to Sesshoumaru. _They look so much alike...the silver colored hair...the golden eyes..._ she thought surprised. _...is this the brother he didn't want to mention about...?_

Without saying anything else, Sesshoumaru just turned around and started to walk away.

"Feh!! Just like 10 years ago, huh?" Inuyasha spat weakly.

After hearing those words, Sesshoumaru stopped walking and looked over his shoulder to Kagome. "Take care of this for me..." Were his only words before he looked straight ahead and continued to walk away again.

"Wait you bastard!! I haven't finished__!!" Inuyasha yelled after him but was cut off by Kouga.

"Shut up, dogturd!! Or I'll beat the crap out of you!!" he warned angrily.

"Keh! Just you try, you wimpy wolf!!" Inuyasha snickered as he got on his feet again, using his fang for support.

Kagome knew he was injured and that he was pushing himself at the moment. She also knew that Kouga wouldn't ignore such a comment. 

Just as she had expected, Kouga had already jumped into a fighting position and was ready to lung forward to attack this Inuyasha.

"Kouga!" she halted him with a clear voice.

When he heard Kagome calling his name, Kouga immediately stopped himself from dashing towards Inuyasha and turned to Kagome with his head slightly lowered.

"Think before you act and do not start a fight out of the blue." Kagome stated with a calm voice.

"I understand, Sora-sama." Kouga acknowledged before he stepped backwards again.

  
Inuyasha was indeed surprised to see the wolf youkai being that submissive towards the boy.   
_His voice is surprisingly high and almost too soft to be coming from a boy._ he thought puzzled. _Why is he dressed like Sesshoumaru anyway...and why is he following him, of all mercenaries...?_

His thoughts were cut off when they boy spoke again, with his high voice. "You can trust us." he started.   
You're injured, right?" 

Inuyasha looked up at the boy and shifted his gaze to his own body. There were cuts and bruises on his arms and his back really hurt of the impact against the tree. 

"I know a place where you can recover from your injuries and stay for a while." the boy continued. "Follow me."

With that he motioned his horse to turn around and was planning to ride away, but when she realized the three weren't following, she stopped her horse and spoke again. "You can walk...can't you? You can borrow my horse if you want." she provoked him.

"Keh!! I'm not as weak as YOU humans!!"Inuyasha spat as he sheathed his fang and gave Kagome a proud look, although her back was facing him.

"Why you__!" Renkotsu growled but was halted when Kagome held up her hand. 

To Inuyasha's surprise, the boy looked over his shoulder to look at him and smirked. "I know you aren't."  
After saying those words, he turned around again and rode away on his horse, with the three youkai following him silently.

Inuyasha just stood there in the clearing, watching them disappear into the forest. _Why did he say that?_ Inuyasha thought to himself. _He could have humiliated me in front of everybody, yet he saved my pride._

_He looks quite fragile... and he doesn't look like a full fletched mercenary to me...then why are they listening to him? Why are they following his orders?_ All these questions filled his mind as he tried to digest what had happened in the past 10 minutes.

His thoughts were cut off when he heard his friends approach him from behind.

"What are we going to do?" Hiten asked as he stopped next to Inuyasha.

"I don't sense any threat coming from them..." Bankotsu said. "What do you think, Inuyasha?" he asked.

Inuyasha thought silently for a moment before he turned to his friends. "We'll follow them." he finally spoke. "It's almost evening and traveling in our state would be even more dangerous."

Hiten and Bankotsu both agreed with Inuyasha and the three of them set off into the direction where the young archer and his group had disappeared.

  
~*~*~*~

  
"Well well, never thought we would meet again THAT soon." Sango chuckled when she saw Kagome after opening the front door.

Kagome smiled. "Did Sesshoumaru come here too?" she asked.

"Yeah, he's upstairs in the same bedroom." Sango replied as she stepped away to let them enter.

Kagome pulled Sango into a corner after she closed the door behind them. "Euhm...I'm sorry to bother you again...we will definitely pay you for our stay... and euhm..." she hesitated.

"It's okay, I'm actually glad to see you again." Sango said reassuringly. "Don't worry, you guys can stay here as long as you want to."

"There's something else." Kagome continued. "There will be three more to stay here, do you think you can prepare another room for them? I'll pay for their stay."

Sango smiled. "Sure, no problem."

"Thanks." Kagome said before she walked to her companions again.

"We can stay here for another while. Go upstairs to unequip and refresh yourselves for dinner." Kagome explained. "I'll go talk to Sesshoumaru about this."

Renkotsu, Kouga and Kyoukotsu nodded and went upstairs to do what they were told.

Kagome soon followed them upstairs and made her way to Sesshoumaru.

  
-- In Sesshoumaru and Kagome's bedroom --

*knock knock*

When nobody answered, Kagome just opened the door, only to see Sesshoumaru standing in front of the window; staring at something far away.

"What's wrong?" Kagome asked as she walked to his side and did the same what he was doing.

No answer.

"Inuyasha..." Kagome repeated the name that Sesshoumaru called the silverhaired one, which caused Sesshoumaru's ears to twitch. "He's your half-brother, right?" she asked.

No answer.

Kagome knew she shouldn't be asking all these things and digging up his past; she knew that there was something wrong between the two brothers. But she also knew that problems should be solved, especially when a problem has existed for 10 long years; it should end after such long time. So Kagome decided to wait patiently until Sesshoumaru opens himself up to her.

*silence*

"My father..." Sesshoumaru finally spoke after a moment of silence. "My father remarried shortly after my mother passed away."  
"He married a human..." he continued, with a slightly disgusted tone in his voice. "He did not care about how other youkai reacted on this; he did not care about the honor that our family had earned for decades..."

Kagome didn't say anything; she only stayed next to him, watching the same direction as he did and listened to his story silently.

"...he didn't even care how I felt..." Sesshoumaru added after a moment of silence. 

Kagome turned to look at his expression. It was just as emotionless as always, but she could see some sadness in his eyes while he was telling her this.

"I was angry..." he continued. "...angry that my father could forget my mother that easily...angry that he could choose a human and turn our family into a joke for the youkai world."

*silence*

"It was a disgrace..." he spoke again. "He was not even pureblooded...he should not have been born...I despised him...yet he looked up to me admiringly as his brother..."

Sesshoumaru didn't say who this 'he' was, but Kagome knew he was talking about Inuyasha.

"...it was suffocating..." he continued. "...all the hatred welled up in myself...to see such a happy family...I didn't know what to do...so I ran...I ran away from them...10 years ago..."

A moment of silence blew over the bedroom when Sesshoumaru ended his story.

  
"He can't help it...to be born half-blooded..." Kagome said after thinking a while.

Sesshoumaru finally turned away from the window to face Kagome after hearing her respond and gave her a puzzled look.

"I'm sure he also had a difficult past too, since he's a hanyou." she explained, not looking away from the window.

Sesshoumaru's eyes softened a little, when he understood what Kagome was trying to say.

Kagome smiled as she turned to face Sesshoumaru. "You married a strange woman yourself...not knowing about her true origin...not even a youkai..." she said as she leaned closer to Sesshoumaru and rested her head on his chest.

"You're not alone anymore...I'm here to share your happiness and sorrow. You can learn to accept him...it's not too late..." she finished with a soft voice.

Sesshoumaru relaxed after hearing those comforting words and wrapped his arms around her. "Thank you...I wanted to hear those words..." he whispered as he held her closer.

Kagome smiled in his embrace. _You didn't know how to deal with all those mixed emotions within you, did you? After ten years of separation...you didn't know what to do with the sudden reunion._ She thought as she hugged him back. _You were just frustrated..._

~*~*~ Meanwhile ~*~*~

"Ah, you must be those three she mentioned about. Please come in!" Sango smiled as she stepped away from the doorway to let the three injured ones in.

_She...? Who is this woman talking about...?_ Inuyasha thought puzzled as he entered the building.

"My name is Sango and I'm the hostess of this small inn." Sango introduced herself after closing the door behind them. "I was told that you three would be staying here for a whole so I've already prepared a room." she continued. "I hope you won't mind sharing one room with the three of you, it's the last one down the hall to your left."

Bankotsu stepped forward and introduced himself. "My name is Bankotsu." he started, pointing at himself, Inuyasha and Hiten respectively. "This is Inuyasha and Hiten." he explained politely. "And yes, we would like to stay here until we've recovered from our injuries. We don't mind sharing the same room." Bankotsu continued. "But we might not be able to pay the full price of our stay...if we__" he was cut off by Sango.

"No need to worry about that, your stay had already been paid for." she smiled.

Bankotsu, Hiten and Inuyasha stared at her with wide eyes.

"Dinner won't be served for a while, so you can go to your room forst to refresh yourselves." Sango said. At the same time Shippou came out of the kitchen and jumped onto her shoulder.  
"I'll have Shippou bring some disinfecting herbs to your room later."  
With that, she turned around and entered the kitchen together with Shippou, leaving the three startled youkai behind in the dining room.

"She's human, isn't she?" Hiten asked puzzled. 

"Yeah...strange that she's not even suspicious of us." Bankotsu replied. He turned to Inuyasha. "Can we trust her?"

Inuyasha sniffed the air. Sesshoumaru's scent is definitely in this building and the rest of his group too." he concluded.

"I think we can trust them." he said after a short moment of silence. _Besides, the boy's eyes weren't lying when he told me that we could trust him._ he thought to himself, recognizing the scent of the young lad that lingered in the air of the inn. _Really a strange scent for a boy...waterfalls and forests...?_ Inuyasha thought puzzled.

  
~*~*~*~

A couple of hours later, it was dinnertime and Shippou was sent to call all guests for dinner.

Inuyasha's group was the last one who left their room. As soon as they reached the stairs and were about to descend it, a familiar yet different voice sounded from below.

"You're so cute, you know that?" the voice spoke. A small 'meow' sounded in reply.

Inuyasha's ears perked up. _This voice...it's the boy...but why is it higher and more...girlish than before?_ he thought bewildered as he took several steps down the stairs with the rest following him.

More wooden chairs were placed around the table, since it only had 8, it would be enough for the total of 11 of them. Fortunately the table was large enough for 11 chairs, there were enough space for each of them to eat normally.

When they reached the dining table, Inuyasha searched around looking for the boy who saved his life, while Hiten and Bankotsu took their seats. But he could only see Sesshoumaru staring out of the window (with his back facing Inuyasha), Renkotsu, Kouga and Kyoukotsu sitting at the table and little Shippou carrying dishes from the kitchen to the table.

Kagome was sitting in front of the fireplace and playing with Kirara; with her back to Inuyasha. Inuyasha didn't notice her when he came down from the stairs and reached the table.

"Smells delicious, huh?" she giggled as she stroked Kirara's soft fur. "Come on, let's have dinner."  
With that Kagome scooped Kirara up in her arms and went back on her feet.  
She was ready to go to the dining table, but find herself looking into two frustrated golden orbs as she turned around.

Inuyasha was speechless when he saw the 'boy'. He scanned him from head to toe.

His raven black hair wasn't tied into a braid anymore; it was hanging loose and resting on his shoulders. He wasn't wearing armor and was only dressed in the white haori and hakama (with blue edges). A small fire cat could be seen in his arms. The boy was obviously shorter than him, but Inuyasha didn't realize before, since he was sitting on a horse.

He snapped out of his trance when a smile appeared on the young lad's face. "Come on, let's eat." he said with the same girlish voice. With that he walked pass Inuyasha towards the table, leaving Inuyasha startled behind.

  
When he turned to the table again, everybody had taken their seats. Recovering from his shock, Inuyasha took the last seat that was facing the boy. He noticed that he was sitting next to his brother.

_What is Sesshoumaru to this boy...? Why is he sitting next to him? Do they know each other well...? _Inuyasha wondered as he began to eat like the rest. The questions in his head just wouldn't leave him alone.

  
During the whole dinner, Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha were the only two who remained silent, while the rest chatted with each other.  
Inuyasha's friends told Sesshoumaru's group about their journey up till now and vice versa.  
Kagome explained to Miroku and Sango how they bumped onto each other in the forest after they left.

* * *

Posted: 23 August 2003  
Last Edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tags problem)  
Spelling check: YES 


	11. Prejudices and confessions

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients into a new story.

_Italic_: thoughts   
-- --: locations   
"...": spoken words   
~*~*~*~*~: time gap   
*...* : noises

* * *

  


**AN ELVES' CHILD**

-by Kittymui-

  
**Prejudices and confessions**

~*~*~ After dinner ~*~*~

Inuyasha's group was the first one to leave the table after dinner; Kagome and Sesshoumaru the last.

Inuyasha's room was about the same size as Kagome and Sesshoumaru's room and it looked similar. A small one person's bed stood at the end of the room and there was a window in the wall on your right if you entered the room. (In Kagome and Sesshoumaru's room, on the contrary, the window would be located on your left if your back is facing the doorway.) A small cabinet, just like the one in Kagome's room stood from across the window.   
Hiten's spear and Bankotsu's halberd were standing against the wall next to the window.

After a long quarrel, Hiten was the one who claimed the bed to sleep on.  
Inuyasha was sitting against the bedside on the floor; facing the doorway; with his Tetsusaiga resting on his shoulder. The door was open and waiting for Bankotsu to enter after he finished bathing.  
Inuyasha was staring into space and a lot of question remained in his mind. 

_Who is this Sora? How did he end up with my brother? Isn't he a human? He's definitely not a youkai... __How come everybody's respecting him?_ he mused.

He snapped out of his thoughts when two familiar figures appeared in his eyesight. It was his brother and the young lad. _Well well, it seems that Sesshoumaru's room is right across ours, isn't that a coincidence..._ he thought amused.

His eyes widened when he realized that the boy had entered the same room as his brother's before they closed the bedroom door.  
_What the...!! They're sharing the same room?!_ Inuyasha thought shocked. _I mean...okay we're sharing the same room too, with the three of us, but we're close friends...a-are they close friends too? The rest of his group are sleeping in another room... _   
Inuyasha shook his head and tried to think clearly what he found out today, mainly revolving the boy.  
_High and soft voice...long raven black hair...strange features...slender and short figure...like a..._ Then it suddenly struck Inuyasha. _...like a...g-girl!?!?_ Inuyasha was shocked by his sudden conclusion.

He suddenly remembered what Sango said to them earlier.

"Ah, you must be those three she mentioned about..."

Inuyasha widened his eyes. _She...!! That isn't a boy, who's with my brother...it's a girl!!! Sora's a girl!!_

His thoughts were cut off when Bankotsu came back from the bathroom and closed their bedroom door behind him. "What's wrong?" he asked, noticing the strange look on Inuyasha's face.

"That Sora...isn't...I mean...it's a girl..." Inuyasha whispered frustratingly, as if the walls were made of paper so that others could probably hear what they were saying.

"I know." Bankotsu replied plainly.

"What!?? How?!? Why didn't you tell me?!" Inuyasha cried out of shock but he lowered his voice gradually during the last sentence after he realized what time it was.

"Well, her voice, her features, her looks...all of them told me she was a she, in spite of the fact she's wearing a male's outfit." he explained. "And I've concluded it after the hostess mentioned Sora as a she." he finished as he sat down next to Inuyasha and leaned against the bedside.

"D-does Hiten know?" Inuyasha whispered.

To their surprise, Hiten suddenly popped his head between Inuyasha's and Bankotsu's. A very very sleepy expression could be seen on his face.  
"Yeah...I know all right. Now please shut up and let me sleep..." he muttered before he pulled his head away and let it fall on the pillow.

"Oh man.." Inuyasha sighed. _God I'm so dense...!!_ he cursed himself in his mind.

  
~*~*~*~ Midnight ~*~*~*~

  
Inuyasha just couldn't help but pondering about the fact that his brother and a girl, with no youkai blood running in her veins, shared the same room. _What is her relationship with Sesshoumaru...? Why is she fighting alongside him...?_ These questions continued to bother him until sleep finally claimed him.

  
~*~ The next morning ~*~

  
Since he didn't get a good sleep last night, Inuyasha was the last one to wake up and came yawning downstairs.  
Hiten and Bankotsu sat by the dining table. It was though as everybody else had vanished from the building, since it was quiet and all.

"Where is the rest?" Inuyasha asked as he approached his friends.

"Well, Miroku went out gathering herbs, followed by Renkotsu and Kyoukotsu." Bankotsu explained. "Sango, Shippou, Kirara and Kouga went to the nearby town to run some errands." he finished. 

"I see..." Inuyasha replied, with an unsatisfied look on his face.

"Your half-brother went out and the person called Sora is taking care of her horse in the stable." Hiten added, knowing Inuyasha's main goal with his question.

Inuyasha quickly hid his curiosity towards the girl and changed the topic. "You guys sure have a good memory for their names." he chuckled.

"Well, if you paid enough attention last night, instead of taking secret peeks at your half-brother and the girl, you would too." Bankotsu smirked.

"Or maybe your brains are just too small to do two things at the same time." Hiten joked.

Inuyasha's eyes flared of anger. "What the...!!" he yelled. "I know their names, alright!! I was just testing you guys, that's all!!"

"Yeah right..." Bankotsu and Hiten said at the same time.

Without saying anything else, Inuyasha walked to the front door and exited the building furiously.

  
Hiten turned to Bankotsu and snickered. "Curiosity kills the cat, huh?"

"Yeah...he just needed a reason to go outside." Bankotsu smirked in reply.

  
-- In the stable --

The stable wasn't big; there were only 2 small fenced areas where you could put horses. The fenced areas were 4 by 2 meters and the stable itself was about 8 by 6 meters. There were all sorts of tools hanging on one of the walls in the stable that could be used to tend horses and carriages.

Kagome was standing inside one of the fenced areas and diligently brushing her horse. She would tell the horse about things she had experienced and her thoughts from time to time.  
Suddenly Kagome thought of something while brushing the back of her horse. "Oh my! I haven't given you a name yet... I'm so sorry..." Kagome said as she patted her horse on its back.

  
~*~

"How do you like the name Kyra?" Kagome finally spoke after thinking for a moment.

The horse whinnied and nodded in reply.

"Great! I knew you'd like it." she laughed. "From now on, you'll be Kyra." Kagome decided, stroking Kyra's beautiful white manes.

Just when Kagome was about to turn around and pick up the saddle, she noticed Inuyasha standing at the opening of the stable. 

Kagome smiled. "Hi...how are your wounds?" she asked with a gentle voice.

Inuyasha stiffened a bit at hearing her girlish voice again. "F-fine..." he replied shyly as he approached Kagome and her horse. He stopped when he reached the fence. 

"What's the matter?" Kagome asked after a short moment of silence, as she picked up the saddle and put it back on Kyra's back. 

"You're not a boy, are you?" Inuyasha finally asked with a puzzled look on his face.

Kagome stood still for a moment, quite startled by the sudden question as she stared at the saddle. Then she turned to Inuyasha and smiled. "Yeah, I'm a girl and Sora's not my real name." Kagome confessed.

Inuyasha slightly relaxed. _Pfew...I was right then..._ he thought to himself. 

  
"What is your real name then?" he asked.

"Kagome." 

  
A moment of silence took place until Kagome decided to hook on a conversation again. This time trying to get something from the younger brother to know more about the relationship between the two brothers.

"You're Sesshoumaru's brother, right?" Kagome asked.

"Half brother." he corrected her. "Yes, I am." he replied, averting his gaze.

"It must be tough for you for the past 10 years..." Kagome suddenly said. "Do you...hate Sesshoumaru...? He had his own reasons for running away...back then..."

Inuyasha turned to Kagome again, this time with an annoyed expression on his face. "What would you know..." he growled.   
He narrowed his eyes. "Did Sesshoumaru say anything about me or what happened between us?! he asked annoyed. "Because you shouldn't be meddling with our business. Besides, you're an outsider, what would you know?!!"

Kagome's face dropped. "I'm sorry."   
_He's right...maybe I shouldn't be bothering him with my curiosity..._ she thought disappointed. She had hoped that she could find out more how Inuyasha felt towards his brother.

"Keh!" Inuyasha spat, not knowing how to deal with the sudden apology. He turned 45 degrees (AN: his side facing Kagome.) and stuck up his nose. "Why are you with Sesshoumaru anyway? And why are you dressed like a boy...like him of all men! What are you to him? You shouldn't be with him...you shouldn't even be here...fighting alongside youkai like a boy. Were you paid or something like that? In that case I would suggest you to go home and learn how to cook instead of learning how to kill."   
Without thinking, Inuyasha had blurted out all the questions and thoughts that was bothering him until now.

Inuyasha opened one eye to peek at Kagome. When he realized Kagome had dropped her face to the floor and hid her eyes with her bangs, he quickly turned to her again. "Oi...y-you aren't__" he started but was cut off when he heard Kagome's trembling voice.

"How dare you..." Kagome muttered as she gradually lifted her head to face Inuyasha. Her eyes flared with anger.

"How are you tell me what I should or shouldn't do." she continued. "I know what you're thinking...you're all looking down on me and thinking that a girl like me shouldn't be out here fighting...that I should be playing an obedient daughter at home and waiting for the day to come when my parents pick out a man for me to marry and seal up my fate..." she smirked.   
"But I tell YOU!! I'm happy to be away from home...from my horrible parents!! I'm more than happy to have met Sesshoumaru!! He saved from my horrible fate...he's proud of me and respects me...he accepted me as his wife, not concerning about my origin and doesn't think low of me because I'm a female!!" she cried out. "So you don't have the right to tell me what to do or don't!! You'll never understand!! You don't even know me!!!!"

Kagome breathed heavily after yelling and swallowed hard. She pushed back all the angry tears that were about to roll down her cheeks. She swore to herself that she would be strong and not let a single drop of tear roll down her cheeks anymore. 

Inuyasha was shocked at hearing all those confessions coming from Kagome. He could only stare wide-eyed at the furious girl in front of him. Her depthless navy blue eyes were filled with anger and sorrow at the same time.

Without saying anything else, Kagome broke their eye contact, climbed over the fence and walked passed Inuyasha, leaving him startled behind in the stable.

It took several seconds for Inuyasha to realize what had happened in the past 15 minutes.  
Fragments of sentences that the girl cried came into his mind again.

"I'm happy to be away...saved by Sesshoumaru...he respects me...accepts me as his wife...doesn't think low of me..."

Inuyasha gulped. _What have I done?_ he thought. _S-she...she's my brother's...m-mate...!!_   
He turned to the opening, where Kagome had disappeared to a couple of seconds ago._ I've angered my brother's mate...what did I do that for?!_ he cursed himself. _Of all persons I had to anger her!! Dammit...what will happen now...?_

Regretting his words, Inuyasha silently left the stable and headed to the inn.

  
-- Back at the inn --

  
Just when Inuyasha looked up from the floor after he closed the front door of the inn behind him, he realized who were standing in the dining room. 

  
Inuyasha's eyes widened. Sesshoumaru was here, talking to Kagome. They stopped their conversation as soon as they noticed Inuyasha.

"I'll wait for you upstairs." Inuyasha heard Kagome say to Sesshoumaru before she turned around and went upstairs.   
Inuyasha swallowed soundlessly. _She didn't look angry...but that doesn't mean anything, does it?_ he thought.

His thoughts were cut off as soon as he heard his brother's voice. "Inuyasha, come over here, I need to talk to you." Sesshoumaru said with a calm voice as he walked towards the window.

_Here it comes...Kagome told him about our quarrel and now he's gonna scold me...or worse..._ Inuyasha thought as he followed Sesshoumaru to the window.

They stood silently next to each other; both staring out of the window at the clear blue sky.

[AN: In case you're wondering. It's afternoon.]

Inuyasha was becoming more nervous each minute. _Why doesn't he say something...anything...??_

To his surprise, Sesshoumaru finally began to speak, as if he knew what Inuyasha was thinking. "It's been 10 long years, hasn't it?"

Inuyasha widened his eyes._ He's talking about us...? Not about...she didn't tell him???_   
He relaxed a little. "Y-yeah..." he responded awkwardly.

"How is father...and your mother...?" Sesshoumaru asked after a short moment of silence.

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes. "Why do you care..." he growled as he turned to his brother. "...I thought you had already stopped caring about them since the day you left us. So don't__" Inuyasha halted himself when he saw that Sesshoumaru had turned to face him. His brother's face was expressionless as always but Inuyasha swore he could see emotion in his brother's eyes, as the two pairs of golden orbs met each other.

_His eyes..._ Inuyasha thought stupefied. _...are filled with...r-regret...!?_

  
He frowned as he recalled Kagome's words from earlier. 

"He had his own reasons...back then..."

  
Inuyasha averted his gaze. "T-they passed away two years after you left." he said with a sad voice.

Sesshoumaru didn't change his expression but inside he was quite shocked to hear the news.   
Just when he was about to ask the cause of their death, Inuyasha already began his explanation.

  
"Father first thought you would return after you left without leaving any messages; he thought you were just going out. But when you didn't come back after 6 months, he became worried." Inuyasha turned to the window as he continued. "He knew that he would be risking his status if he announced your disappearance, but he didn't care."

[AN: Choosing a human to be his wife and having a hanyou as his son had already crushed the honor and imago of Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru's father, but the marriage causing the eldest son of the taiyoukai to run away would be the last drop of oil adding to the fire. Losing your status as a youkai (trust me, his status is definitely not low) will result in humiliation and be looked down by youkai of even the lowest ranks.]

  
"Not only did he announce your disappearance, he even went to youkai of higher classes to ask for assistance in finding you." Inuyasha sighed. "But they only laughed at father's stupidity. They even had every single youkai and human brainwashed, who heard about the announcement, in order not to let the disgrace spread any further." Inuyasha looked at Sesshoumaru.  
"Father sacrificed his status in order to find you." he dropped his face. "After another 6 months, he finally decided to search for you himself. Mother and me hoped that he would return with you someday, but fate was cruel..."  
Inuyasha looked outside the window again. "Me and mother waited for father to return until one day, a messenger knocked at our door."

Sesshoumaru looked at Inuyasha's sad face. He could predict what kind of message the messenger brought home.

"He told us that father encountered Ryuukotsusei during his search and died after using all his powers to seal up the dragon youkai." Inuyasha said with a sad voice.

Sesshoumaru widened his eyes. _R-ryuukotsusei...??! The strongest dragon youkai...!?_

"Mother fell ill after hearing about father's death and passed away of grieve when I turned 12." he continued. "After I buried mother, I ran away from home...I knew a hanyou like me would be targeted by other youkai since no one was there to protect me. I wandered...trained...and luckily survived through all the hardships for 10 long years." Inuyasha closed his eyes. "I was all alone until I met Bankotsu and Hiten during my adventures. We became good friends and traveled together ever since. We fought enemies together to survive and completed all kinds of missions to earn our living. It was hard, but it got better after I met them." Inuyasha finished, as he opened his eyes again.

Sesshoumaru didn't know how to react after hearing Inuyasha's story. A tremendous wave of guilt washed over his heart. _F-father...h-he..._   
He had always thought that his father didn't care about him since he married the human. But he was wrong, he never thought his father would sacrifice his hard-earned status just because of his stubbornness.

Sesshoumaru snapped out of his thoughts when Inuyasha pulled something shiny out of his sleeves.

"Father gave me this before he went out to search for you. He was afraid he wouldn't be able to give it to you if he died without finding you." Inuyasha said as he held up the shiny object. "He told me to tell you that he didn't and he never did."

Sesshoumaru looked at the object.   
It was a silver necklace with a very beautiful and familiar silver pendant. Sesshoumaru's eyes widened as he recognized the shiny ornament. _T-this...this is...!!!_ he thought startled as he remembered the last the time he saw it. 

[FLASHBACK] 

  
Sesshoumaru was running through the halls of their castle. 

If you look at him right now, you don't really see much difference between the grown-up and the young Sesshoumaru. Young Sesshoumaru is smaller, shorter and cuter and wears an innocent expression all the time, while the grown-up one looks more mature with a cold, emotionless look on his face. 

Little Sesshoumaru was wearing a small white kimono with long sleeves. Even at the age of 4, this Sesshoumaru already had the dark marks on his face (obviously, they're smaller back then).

*huff...puff* he panted heavily.

_Please...please let me be on time..._ he thought panicked as he continued to run to his destination..

Sesshoumaru's mother passed away several months ago and now his father was planning to remarry again...with a human. Today, was the day that his father's wedding with the human and Sesshoumaru was making his way to the sacred hall of the castle, where the wedding was held.

  
-- At the sacred hall --

  
It was not a large hall; about 40 by 20 meters. It greatly resembled a church from the inside. There were sacred paintings on the walls, and colorful sunlight, which came through the leaded windows, were lighting up the hall. There were benches; they were divided into two groups by a long red carpet on the floor that connected the huge doors with the altar.   
There were only two persons standing in the hall: the bridegroom and his bride. The bridegroom was dressed in a navy blue kimono with long sleeves and a white hakama. His beautiful silver hair was resting loosely on his back and his golden eyes were locked on his fiancé, who was wearing a fancy colorful silk kimono with long sleeves. Her silky black hair was tied up and hidden under the tsuno-kakushi (a stiff white band) on her head.

[AN: I got the info about the clothing from a website: And yes, they have both decided to have a traditional Japanese wedding ^-^.]

No youkai priest wanted to bind them, since it's a disgrace to the youkai world when a youkai chooses a human to be his wife. And no human wanted to do it because of the same reason. So his father decided to bind both of them together himself. He believed that no real official ceremony was needed when there's true love between them.

"If there's anybody against this marriage, please let us know now, or stay silent forever." he said aloud, just like a priest.

After a short silence, he turned to the bride and smiled. "Well, it seems to me that nobody's against this marriage." The bride returned the smile.

"WAIT!!!!!!!!"

They were surprised by the sudden voice coming from the doorway and turned to the person at the door.  
"S-Sesshoumaru! What are you doing?!" his father growled at his son.

"Chichi-ue...you...you can't...do this..." little Sesshoumaru panted as he walked forward and stopped about at 2 meters distance from the couple.

His father's eyes flared of anger. "I am the lord of this house, I decided when to marry and with who." he stated coldly.

Little Sesshoumaru dropped his small face as tears welled up in his eyes. "Doshite...why are you marrying someone else again?" he sobbed as he raised and opened his tiny hand in front of his father, revealing a shiny object.

It was a silver necklace with a silver pendant attached to it. The pendant was shaped like a flame and a small pearl-shaped silver-blue colored cat's-eye stone was embedded at the center of the flame. [AN: The cat's-eye stone has the size of a marble.]

His father's eyes widened as he saw it. He recognized the ornament; it was the necklace that he gave his deceased wife as a wedding gift. The silver-blue cat's-eye stone was a very rare stone and it would bring luck and strength to the wearer of it. But when she suffered under the incurable illness, it didn't bring her any luck or strength at all.  
"Sesshoumaru, I have already decided this..." his father responded as he closed his eyes and averted his gaze from the necklace. 

Little Sesshoumaru looked up to his father. His eyes flared with anger. "You liar!! You said you would never forget about haha-ue!!" he yelled as he threw the necklace to the floor in front of his father and ran away. 

*PLING*

The cat's-eye stone hit the floor first and broke into two halve moons. One part was still attached to the flame-shaped pendant and the other was lying on the red carpet. 

[AN: Yeah I know what you're thinking, but the carpet isn't that thick and fluffy and the cat's-eye stone is VERY delicate ^-^. Plus, little Sesshoumaru threw it on the floor very angrily so...] 

Little Sesshoumaru didn't even look back before he ran out of the sacred hall, leaving the couple startled behind.

[AN: Haha I know, I didn't give Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru's mother(s) and father a name, I find it not necessary since this will be the first and last time I mention their parents.]

[END FLASHBACK]

Sesshoumaru took the necklace out of Inuyasha's hand and looked at it more closely. _I...I'm such a fool..._ he thought as he looked at the scratchless silver-blue cat's-eye marble at the center of the silver flame-shaped pendant. _W-what was I thinking back then...? If I had not ran away...all this would not have happened...all these misunderstandings...f-father would still be alive..._ Sesshoumaru looked up at Inuyasha. _His mother would still be alive...w-what have I done..._

  
"Don't blame yourself too much, aniki." Inuyasha's voice sounded through his thoughts and Sesshoumaru snapped out of it again.

It took Sesshoumaru several seconds before he realized what he just called him. "What did you just call me...?" he asked surprised.

"It's true that I hated you for what you caused by your sudden disappearance." Inuyasha explained. "But it's already in the past and I'm sure father and mother wouldn't want to see us tearing each other apart for things that cannot be undone."

_Back then...I really thought I could hate you forever. I thought that forgiveness would never exist between us..._ Inuyasha thought as he watched his brother's eyes, which were filled with regret and sadness.   
His eyes softened. _I guess I was wrong..._

Suddenly Sesshoumaru smirked.

  
"What's so funny?" Inuyasha asked puzzled.

"My, you really have grown up Inuyasha." he laughed.

"What the...?!" Inuyasha cried. "I'm trying really hard to understand you and swallow my pride for once in order to solve the problem between us and you dare to laugh at me????" 

"Oh really?" Sesshoumaru teased.

"Why you...!!!" Inuyasha growled. "Chikushou!! I can't believe I actually looked up to you back then. Maybe I should continue to hate you instead of forgiving you!!"

Sesshoumaru smirked again. "Well then, my dear ototo, how would you like to join your brother?"

Inuyasha didn't hear what Sesshoumaru said at first and continued to curse himself. "Yeah, I shouldn't have forgiven you...maybe our paths should split again... and__"

Inuyasha widened his eyes and turned to his brother. "W-what did you just say??" he asked surprised.

"I do not like to repeat myself. I know you heard me." Sesshoumaru said with an annoyed voice.

"You haven't changed much after 10 long years." Inuyasha smirked. "Still as proud as always."

Sesshoumaru's expression turned serious. "You have one night to think it over, we are going to leave tomorrow morning."   
With that, he turned around and walked towards the stairs, leaving Inuyasha behind.

Inuyasha watched his brother disappear upstairs and walked towards the dining table. _This is the first time we've had a real conversation..._ he thought amused. _Join his group...and travel together...? Should I do it?_ he mused.

  
Inuyasha suddenly let a smile appear on his face as he had decided what to do.

[AN: Well, forgive and forget you know. They have both grown up and words aren't always needed for two people to understand each other ^-^.]

* * *

**Vocabulary:**  
**Hanyou:** half demon  
**Taiyoukai: **huge youkai (youkai lord or something like that)  
**Chichi-ue:** father  
**Doshite:** why  
**Haha-ue:** mother  
**Aniki:** Slang for big brother  
**Chikushou:** Damn  
**Ototo:** little brother

Posted: 28 August 2003  
Last Edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tags problem)  
Spelling check: YES 


	12. The travel continues

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients into a new story.

**INTRODUCTION TO CHARACTERS OF THIS CHAPTER:**

**Musou:** A young merchandiser of the age of 23. He buys gems from places to sell them for a higher price in other places where they are rare.

[**AN:** Remember the piece of meat that wanted to be out of Naraku in the series? Sorry don't really remember which episode :P. In the series, he didn't know his name so he borrowed the name Musou. Yeah I know it's Onigumo, but I hate that name ^-^. In this story his real name is Musou and yes he looks like Naraku.]

_Italic_: thoughts   
-- --: locations   
"...": spoken words   
~*~*~*~*~: time gap   
*...* : noises

* * *

  


**AN ELVES' CHILD**

-by Kittymui-

  
**The travel continues...**

**Previously:**  
Inuyasha watched his brother disappear upstairs and walked towards the dining table. _This is the first time we've had a real conversation..._ he thought amused. _Join his group...and travel together...? Should I do it?_ he mused.  
Inuyasha suddenly let a smile appear on his face as he had decided what to do. 

  
~*~*~*~

"And?" Kagome asked, watching Sesshoumaru enter the bedroom. "How did it go?"

Sesshoumaru silently walked over to Kagome until she was within arm reach and stopped. "We had a real conversation." he replied with a calm voice.

"Really?" That's good to hear." Kagome was about to smile but didn't as she saw Sesshoumaru's unchanged expression; his eyes were filled with emotions she didn't quite understood.

Kagome was surprised when Sesshoumaru suddenly hugged her tight. "S-Sesshoumaru...what's wrong...?" she asked worriedly.

"F-father..." she heard him whisper. "...h-he died...because of me..."  
Kagome's eyes widened and gently pushed Sesshoumaru away a little to see his face. "W-what?! B-but how...?" she asked surprised.

Sesshoumaru dropped his face. _Will she find me weak now...? After seeing me like this... or after I told her..._ he wondered sadly.  
His thoughts were cut off when he felt Kagome's warm hands touching his.

"Come..." Kagome said with a gentle voice. "...come sit on the bed with me and tell me the whole story."

Sesshoumaru was surprised at first, by her gentleness but he pulled himself together and together they walked towards the bed.

~*~*~ an hour later ~*~*~

  
Kagome was sitting on the bed and leaning against the wall with her legs stretched out. Sesshoumaru was lying on the bed with his head resting on her lap and with his back facing Kagome as he told her the same story that Inuyasha had told him. During his story, Kagome comfortingly stroked Sesshoumaru's silky hair as she listened to him.  
And finally, Sesshoumaru finished his story and finished expressing his feelings.

  
"But, it's already in the past...right?" Kagome said with a gentle voice. "You shouldn't feel guilty anymore...your parents wouldn't want their death to be a burden."

"Yeah..." Sesshoumaru replied relaxed as he slowly lifted himself up in the sitting position. "Thank you for listening, I feel much better now..." he smiled as he held Kagome's hand that was stroking his hair before.

Kagome smiled and raised her other hand to cup his cheek. "I'm your wife remember?" she said as she moved closer to his face until her lips were brushing his. "I'll always be here by your side, love." she whispered before she sealed their lips in a kiss.

Sesshoumaru wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back. 

After a while, Sesshoumaru pulled away. "I have asked Inuyasha to join our group. I do not want him to wander off again, since he is the only family I have now..." he said. "And I feel...responsible__"   
He was cut off when Kagome put her hand on his lips. "Shh..." she said with a smile. "It's okay...I understand."

With that she moved closer and sealed their lips again. This time Sesshoumaru put his arm on her back and gently laid her down to the bed.   
Kagome wove her hands through his silver hair.  
Sesshoumaru smiled in their kiss as he kissed her passionately. _God I love her so much..._ he thought to himself.

  
~*~*~ meanwhile ~*~*~

"Hey Inuyasha! Where have you been??" Hiten smirked as he saw Inuyasha enter the bedroom.

Bankotsu and Hiten had gone to their room after Inuyasha left the inn to head for the stable. They waited for their friend to return after he satisfied his curiosity about the girl.

"And? And?" Hiten asked curiously.

"She's my brother's mate..." Inuyasha stated plainly.

Bankotsu and Hiten both smiled. "Yeah I knew it was something like that." Bankotsu laughed.

"There are things I'd like to discuss with you guys..." Inuyasha suddenly spoke with a serious voice. 

Bankotsu and Hiten stopped laughing and started to pay attention.

"I have talked with Sesshoumaru and we've finally settled our past." Inuyasha started.

"That's good to hear." Hiten responded.

"There's more..." Inuyasha continued. "...he asked me to join his group."  
Then all became silent for a moment.

  
"It should be fun." Hiten suddenly spoke, causing Inuyasha to widen his eyes.

"Yeah, the more the merrier, right?" Bankotsu added.

"You...you guys really are okay with that?" Inuyasha asked surprised.

Bankotsu approached him and put a hand on Inuyasha's shoulder. "He's your brother, right? Who knows how long it will take to meet him again if we split our paths again?"

Hiten also walked to his side. "Besides, we're good friends right? We'll always follow you wherever you go so we respect your decision." he added.

"Guys..." Inuyasha didn't know what to say to his friends. 

  
Suddenly Bankotsu and Hiten jumped away at the same time and shivered as they rubbed their arms with both their hands. "Ewwww...man! This is way too mushy for me...!!" Bankotsu cried.

"Yeah I'm having goose bumps here!!!" Hiten cried after him.

Inuyasha burst out laughing. He was really happy to have such good friends.

~*~*~*~ The next morning ~*~*~*~

Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha's group were gathered around the dining table.

"Yesterday I have gone out to gather information about our next mission." Sesshoumaru started and took out a scroll of his sleeve. "Our next destination will be a city called Mayr and the mission is to protect merchandiser who's transporting a carriage with valuable gems to the city."

"He will arrive here at noon. That's in about an hour so prepare yourselves for take off." he ordered as he stood up. "I'll be upstairs in my room in case you need me." With that, Sesshoumaru walked to the stairs and went to his room.

The rest also stood up and went to prepare themselves. Hiten and Bankotsu went upstairs to gather their weapons and equipments; Kyoukotsu, Renkotsu and Kouga did the same.  
Kagome left the building to make her way to Kyra and Inuyasha just stood there in the dining room, waiting till everybody had left the place.

_Good this is my chance._ Inuyasha thought when he saw that everyone was gone from the dining room.

  
-- In the stable --

  
"Hey there! We're going to travel again, are you ready?" Kagome asked as she patted Kyra's back. The horse nodded and whinnied in reply. "Good girl!" Kagome said proudly.

When Kagome was just about to climb on Kyra to take a short ride, she noticed someone standing at the opening of the stable. She relaxed as she realized it was Inuyasha. "Hi there, what's up?" she asked casually.

Inuyasha gulped. "H-hey...euhm...I..." he stuttered, walking towards Kagome.

"I wanted to...thank you..." he finally managed to say.

Kagome gave Inuyasha a puzzled look. "What for?" she asked.

"For not telling my brother about yesterday." Inuyasha replied.

A smile appeared on Kagome's face. "Don't worry about it, I was wrong to stick my nose into someone else's business."

"But you had the right to...!! Yet I..." he said with a regretful tone and hesitated whether he should be mentioning the things he said to her again.  
He snapped out of his thoughts when he felt something touching his hand. When he looked down, he realized it was Kagome's hand that was holding his.

"Hey I said don't worry, okay?" Kagome smiled. "Forget what happened yesterday...friends...?" she asked as she shook his hand.

Inuyasha was surprised by her straightforwardness. _She considers me a friend? After all that I've said to her...?_ But then a soft smile appeared on his face as he replied. "F-friends..."

"Good!" Kagome said cheerfully as she let go of his hand again. "Have you already finished preparing?" she asked.

"My friends are gathering things up in our room...and I..." Inuyasha replied as he held the hilt of his Tetsusaiga that was attached to the sash around his waist. "I only need my Tetsusaiga and claws."

Kagome smiled. "I only need my horse here..." she patted on Kyra's back. "And__" Kagome stopped talking when she noticed something was missing in her possession.

"What's wrong?" Inuyasha asked, puzzled by her panicked expression.

Kagome didn't reply and made her way to the exit. She was so hasty that she didn't even realize someone was already standing at the opening and she bumped straight onto the person.  
Just when Kagome was about to fall backwards of the collision, two strong arms held her upper arms and steadied her.  
Kagome looked up and realized it was Sesshoumaru.

A smile appeared on his face. "Looking for this?" Sesshoumaru asked as he held up Kagome's weapons.

"Yup!!" Kagome cried happily as she took her bow and quiver and she started to equip herself.

In the meanwhile, Sesshoumaru looked up from Kagome to Inuyasha, who was still standing near her horse. "And what were you doing here, my dear brother?" he asked. 

"I came to thank Kagome for saving my life this morning." Inuyasha replied coolly.

"Ah...so you know..." Sesshoumaru smirked. "I assume you already know you shouldn't touch what's your brother's." he warned subtletly as he put his arm around Kagome's waist protectively.

Sesshoumaru's gaze shifted back to Kagome as he felt her hand on his cheek.   
"Sesshoumaru...we're just friends..." Kagome said with a calm voice, which gradually became more annoyed. "What do you take me for??? And besides...I wouldn't even let him even if he wanted to!!"

"I wouldn't even dare to touch my brother's mate, so don't worry." Inuyasha added, walking towards the couple.

Sesshoumaru smiled. "I know you won't. I was just kidding." he chuckled.

"Well...shall we go outside?" The carriage will arrive pretty soon." Sesshoumaru suggested before he turned to the doorway.

Kagome quickly ran to her horse and climbed on it. "All set!!" she cried out excited and the three of them exited the stable together.

  
~*~ After a while ~*~

  
The carriage came as Sesshoumaru had predicted. It was a regular carriage made of dark wood. A brown horse was pulling it in the front. Between the horse and the carriage, there was a small seat with a young man sitting on it.   
He had black hair just above his shoulders and dark brown eyes. He was wearing a mud green tunic with a brown pelt around his waist and short pants below. He looked around the age of 23.  
The young man stopped his carriage right in front of Sesshoumaru's group, which was already waiting for him on the unpaved road in front of the inn.

He stood up from his seat and bowed slightly. "My name is Musou and I've been told that I would be escorted to the city by a group of mercenaries led by a person called Sesshoumaru." he said with a clear voice.

Sesshoumaru stepped forward. "I am Sesshoumaru and yes, we will be responsible for you safety until we reach Mayr." he replied.

Musou smiled in his thoughts. _What a group..._ he thought amused as he scanned the crowd. _A hanyou and a full blooded inuyoukai, two humanoid youkai, a bald youkai, a youkai with muscles and no brains...a horse and___!!_ he widened his eyes when he saw the person on the horse. _a...a h-human?!?!_ he thought shocked. _He looks very...young...and he's dressed like the leader?! He really looks like... _ he shook his head. _No...it can't be her...he's a boy..._Then a grin appeared on his face. _ Amusing...truly amusing..._

Kagome felt his gaze on her and felt strangely uneasy. _What is he staring at...?!_ she thought annoyed.   
Sesshoumaru also knew where the man was staring at and cleared his throat to draw his attention again. "Let's be heading to our destination." he ordered with a clear voice.  
He turned to the owners of the inn. "I thank you for your hospitality, till we meet again." he said politely before he turned around and walked into the direction of the city.

At the same time, Musou sat down again and Kagome turned her horse around to ride next to Sesshoumaru.   
Inuyasha stayed near his brother and the rest took their positions around the carriage: Hiten & Bankotsu stood on the left side of the carriage, Renkotsu & Kouga on the right side and Kyoukotsu stood behind the carriage.

Miroku, Sango and Shippou waved and watched until the group disappeared out of sight.

  
~*~*~ Later ~*~*~

  
After a couple of hours, they've suddenly left the forest and reached the toughest part of their road: Dyr. Dyr was a large area that looked like a desert. Nothing could grow on the earth and not a single drop of rain would fall from the sky in Dyr.   
Nobody every understood why it was possible that a dead place like this one could be located between two huge forests.  
The earth was yellow and dry and no green could be seen around, except for the forest behind them. There were a lot of rocks on the left and right side of the road. Rocks that reached your knees and rocks that could even hide an elephant

  
Kagome knew what was waiting for them here. Sesshoumaru had told her that a lot of bandits inhabited this place and that they would rob and kill every merchandiser that tried to cross it. _No wonder that Musou needed protection from youkai._ Kagome thought to herself.

Suddenly, Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha and Kagome stopped walking at the same time, causing the rest to stop.  
"W-what's_" Musou started but was shushed when Sesshoumaru raised his hand to the air.

"You felt it too, aniki?" Inuyasha whispered to his brother.

"Yes." he replied. "They are here..."

After hearing their leader's words, Renkotsu, Kouga and Kyoukotsu quickly jumped into fighting positions. Hiten and Bankotsu did the same.

A loud whistling sound could be heard in the air and shortly after that, figures dressed in black started to appear on the rocks. All of them had their faced covered with a cloth, except for their eyes.  
Within seconds Sesshoumaru's group was already surrounded by them.

"Well well, and I thought nobody would ever dare to cross this place again since our last attack." a male voice sounded from above.

Everyone turned to the highest rock in the vicinity where the voice came from.

A figure dressed in white appeared on it. His face, except for his eyes was hidden behind a white cloth; he was obviously the leader of the gang.

"Listen up!!" he cried out loud to his fellows. "This one's going to be our biggest catch of all times!! They'll be surrendering in no time so do NOT worry!!!"

Sesshoumaru, Kagome and Inuyasha narrowed their eyes of anger.   
"Why you...!!!" Inuyasha growled as he gripped the hilt of his Tetsusaiga.

Ignoring the rising anger from below, the leader continued his pep talk. "After this, we'll be rich!! We will go to the city and get some___"  
He stopped yelling when he suddenly felt a sharp pain coming from his cheek.  
The white cloth that covered his nose and mouth was cut loose at one side of his face and was now dancing in the wind with the other end still attached to the other side of his face.

His face was revealed and the leader was actually just a regular man around the age of 40. And the cloth was used to hide the horrible scare that ran diagonally from his nose to his lower-right jaw.

It took him several seconds to realize what had happened. He raised his hand to touch his burning cheek and held it in front of his eyes.

Blood.

He finally snapped out of hit and looked down from the rock to below. He scanned the group and stopped when his eyes met the angered navy blue ones that were staring straight at him.

Kagome was still holding her bow and aiming at the man, even thought the arrow has already been shot.

Inuyasha started wide-eyed at her for her braveness, as did Hiten, Bankotsu and Musou. Sesshoumaru and his group only smirked at this.

"Why you!!!!" the leader roared.

Kagome smirked. "Well I had to do something to shut you up!!!" she cried out.

This made him even more furious. 

"Prepare yourselves for battle." Kagome said to the rest as she drew another arrow.

They didn't have to wait long for the enemy as a loud roar sounded from the highest rock.

"ATTACCKKK!!!!!!"

  
After that, every single black figure had started to dash towards the group.  
Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha unsheathed their weapons, Hiten & Bankotsu readied their spear and halberd, Musou hid himself in the carriage and the rest readied themselves too.

  
~*~*~*~

  
Compared to the tigeryoukai tribe of their previous mission, these human bandits were a lot more easier to handle. It only took them about an hour to wipe out the whole gang.  
Inuyasha only needed to use Kaze no Kizu once and Kagome only used 5 arrows. They didn't even suffer any injuries.

"Well then, shall we get going?" Musou suggested with a relieved voice as he came out of his carriage.  
The group nodded and everyone prepared themselves for take off.

When Kagome was just about to motion Kyra to walk, she suddenly felt something coming at her and quickly looked around. Her eyes widened as she realized that a dagger was coming straight at her.  
Kagome quickly duck and successfully avoided being hit but her braid was cut loose in the process.

A couple strands of hair were cut off and fell to the floor. The rest of her hair landed gracefully on her shoulders. Everybody were shocked and gasped at the sudden attack. 

Kagome quickly jerked her head up and searched the direction where the dagger came from. Her eyes caught a figure dressed in white. _The leader was still alive!!_ she thought furiously. When she was about to reach for her bow, she heard Sesshoumaru unsheathe his sword.  
Within seconds, Sesshoumaru had already dashed towards the leader and buried his sword into his chest.

"Nobody...hurts what's mine..." he growled angrily before he pulled his sword out of the leader. The leader dropped dead to the sand and Sesshoumaru swung his sword in the air to get rid of the blood before he sheathed it again.  
He walked back to Kagome's side. "Are you uninjured?" he asked with a gentle voice as he looked up to Kagome.

"I'm okay, just lost some strands of hair." Kagome replied as she braided her hair and tied it again.

"Good." Sesshoumaru said relieved. "Let's get going." he ordered and the whole group started to move again.

What they didn't realize was that Musou frequently stole glances at Kagome ever since the surprise-attack.

~*~*~*~

  
_It's really a girl...!!!_ he thought surprised. _And she definitely resembles her...her eyes...her hair...such a beauty..._ he thought dreamily.   
A smirk formed on his face as he finally averted his gaze from Kagome's back.

  
Kagome didn't know why, but she felt a sudden chill through her body.

Sesshoumaru noticed this and lowered his pace to walk next to her. "What is wrong?" he asked worriedly.

Kagome looked down aside to Sesshoumaru. "Nothing serious...I felt a sudden chill through my body...I guess I'm just tired..." she smiled.

"Well...we've been traveling for 8 hours already and the sun is going to set soon..." Inuyasha said, looking at the sky.

"We'll take a break as soon as we have exited Dyr." Sesshoumaru suggested. "It's too dangerous to set up a camp here."

Kagome and Inuyasha agreed with this and they continued their way out of Dyr.

  
~*~*~*~*~

  
After traveling a while, they've finally reached the border of Dyr and entered a huge forest again. They've set up a camp, just like Sesshoumaru had planned to, in a small open area near the road.

Inuyasha was resting in a tree near the open area, Musou slept inside his carriage near the campfire and the rest except for Kagome and Sesshoumaru were resting against trees around the campfire.

-- somewhere deeper in the forest --

  
Sesshoumaru was leaning against a big tree with Kagome in his embrace. Her head was leaning onto his chest and his arms were resting on her waist.  
They both had taken off their armor and were now only dressed in their white haori's and hakama's.

"I'm worried about that Musou..." Kagome said with a soft voice.

"Hm?" Sesshoumaru slowly opened his eyes as he raised his hand to stroke her hair.

"His eyes..." Kagome continued. "...when he stared at me this afternoon...they were...scheming..." she said with a worried tone.

Sesshoumaru pulled her closer and leaned his chin on her head. "Do not worry too much...I will end his life before he can even try to do something to you..." he said reassuringly.

Kagome relaxed a little after hearing those words and snuggled closer. "Oyasumi-nasai" 

Sesshoumaru lowered his head and placed a gentle kiss on Kagome's forehead. "Oyasumi-nasai, love."

* * *

Posted: 4 September 2003  
Last Edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tag problems)  
Spelling check: YES 


	13. Separation

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients into a new story.

**INTRODUCTION TO CHARACTERS OF THIS CHAPTER:**

**Naraku:** He was the former personal advisor and lapdog of the king of the Eastern Lands. He claims to be banned from the East by the king, whom he disobeyed. In spite of all the negative advises and bad rumors about the 28 years old man, the king of the Western Lands still took him in the castle as his advisor. 

_Italic_: thoughts   
-- --: locations   
"...": spoken words   
~*~*~*~*~: time gap   
*...* : noises

* * *

  


**AN ELVES' CHILD**

-by Kittymui-

  
**Separation**

~*~*~ The next morning ~*~*~

  
Kagome and Sesshoumaru were the first ones to wake up in the morning and the merchandiser the last. They continued their travel shortly after breakfast. 

Now and then, Musou would still peek at Kagome. Her beauty never seemed to tire him. 

Although her back was always facing Musou, Kagome knew his eyes were locked on her from time to time.  
Sesshoumaru noticed this also and finally looked over his shoulder to give Musou an icy glare.

Musou averted his gaze from Sesshoumaru as soon as he received this glare of death. After that, Musou didn't look at Kagome anymore and paid all of his attention to the road.

  
~*~ Later ~*~

  
It was late in the afternoon and the group finally reached Mayr. A thick high brick wall surrounded it and the only way to leave was via the two big gates of the city. Or, if you could jump very high, you can enter or leave the city by jumping over the walls.   
One gate was located at the North side and one at the South. Kagome and Sesshoumaru were standing in front of the latter one.

When they arrived at the huge gate, Musou jumped off his carriage and showed some sort of pass to the guards. Within minutes, they found themselves within the thick walls of Mayr. It was a very wealthy city, with much more buildings and pieces of art than Paedra. Mayr had a museum, a theater, a lot of taverns, inns and a very big library, or so Kagome heard as she walked pass a guide who was explaining things to some travelers.

Every house within eye reach had its own garden, no matter what kind of house it was. The people of Mayr were dressed very richly and high class. Even youkai who lived here were wearing expensive armor and garments. It was truly a city for wealthy people.

[AN: Humans are indeed afraid of youkai but being friends with wealthy ones with high statuses, is good for their own reputation. Same goes for youkai. Greedy, aren't they?]

  
Kagome and the whole group made their way to the inn, which was located near the city gate.

  
-- In front of the inn --

"Well I guess this is farewell." Musou smiled. "Thank you for escorting me here." he said as he bowed slightly in front of Sesshoumaru, who stood in the front, and handed him a letter. "This will prove that I've safely reached Mayr, give it to the counselor of Mayr and he'll give you your reward." he explained.  
Sesshoumaru nodded and took the letter.

Before Musou turned around to leave, he took one last look at Kagome behind Sesshoumaru. _Till we meet again..._ he thought as he walked away.

When the merchandiser disappeared with his carriage around the corner, Sesshoumaru turned to Kagome. "You go get us a couple of rooms for the night." he ordered and then turned to Inuyasha. "You stay here with Hiten and Bankotsu, I'll go to the counselor with the rest. I know him from previous missions and he doesn't like too many visitors." he explained.  
They nodded and watched Sesshoumaru leave with Kyoukotsu, Kouga and Renkotsu.

Kagome turned to the three. "Well then, shall we?" she smiled. And the three of them entered the inn to rent some rooms for the night.

  
-- At the mansion --

"Please come in." a maid welcomed them as she opened the huge wooden door. "The counselor is expecting you in his office."  
Sesshoumaru and his companions entered the luxurious building and followed the maid to the counselor.

Sesshoumaru was quite shocked, though he didn't show it, when he entered the office.

"Ah, you must be Sesshoumaru." the man in the chair behind the desk spoke. He had long curly black hair and ominous black eyes. He was dressed in a night-black suit without any trinkets hanging on it.

"Where is__" Sesshoumaru asked, not recognizing the unfamiliar counselor.

"He retired." the man cut him off, knowing what he wanted to ask. "I'm the new counselor of Mayr and my name is Naraku.

  
Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes. He knew about this man called Naraku. He was the infamous lapdog of the king of the Eastern lands. He was banned from the East, or so he said, and after that he searched for shelter in the West.  
Since he had worked for the East, he should know a lot about their military information and other useful things. Everyone said that he could not be trusted but the king of the Western Lands would not listen and took this man called Naraku in as his advisor, despite of what everybody said.

Sesshoumaru had hoped never to meet this person, yet now he was standing in his office. _I should be careful around this Naraku..._ he thought alerted. "I came here to report our mission." Sesshoumaru spoke calmly.

"Ah yes, the merchandiser of gems." Naraku responded. "Do you have the proof of his safe arrival?"

Sesshoumaru handed the letter to Naraku. 

Naraku didn't open or read the letter; instead he called out for his servant. "Give them their reward after they leave this room." he ordered.   
The servant obeyed and left the office.

Then Naraku turned to Sesshoumaru again. "I believe you are also here to retrieve your next mission, am I right?" he asked with a strangely excited office.

Sesshoumaru nodded in reply.

Naraku opened his drawer and took out a letter. "This will be a very tough mission...but I'm sure you'll not decline and disappoint me." he smirked.

Sesshoumaru grinned. "The tougher, the bigger the reward, huh?" he said coolly.

The smirk on Naraku's face dropped and his expression became serious. "Good, now listen up carefully." he said.

  
~*~*~ Some time later ~*~*~

  
It was already evening when Sesshoumaru, Renkotsu, Kyoukotsu and Kouga left the mansion with the reward of 7000 gold coins and they made their way back to the inn.

  
"Sesshoumaru-sama..." Kouga called after his leader and caught up with him. "...are you sure about this?" he asked worriedly.

"I have already accepted the mission, Kouga." Sesshoumaru sighed, not stopping or looking at his loyal companion.

Renkotsu and Kyoukotsu also caught up and walked next to Sesshoumaru on the other side. "But you could have declined." Kyoukotsu added.

"Didn't you look at his eyes? It was as if they wanted to devour me." Sesshoumaru explained without lowering his walking pace. "He does have the power to do that if I had declined."

"We'll kill him before he tries!!" Renkotsu growled. "He doesn't look that strong to me!!"

"The king will know about it and pursue us until we are six feet under." Sesshoumaru reasoned.

"We're youkai! We can handle that!" Kyoukotsu argued proudly.

As soon as he heard those words, Sesshoumaru finally stopped walking but he still didn't look at his companions. 

"What about Kagome?" he finally said after a moment of silence.

Kouga, Kyoukotsu and Renkotsu suddenly didn't know how to respond anymore and became silent.

"She is not a youkai." Sesshoumaru continued. "She is my mate...I do not want to endanger her life."

They dropped their gazes to the floor, except for Kouga. "What about her safety when__"

Kouga was cut off by Sesshoumaru's slightly annoyed voice. "I'll talk to her about this and besides..." he said as he looked over his shoulder to Kouga. "...I still have my brother and his companions."

With that Sesshoumaru started to walk again. The rest followed silently; they knew Sesshoumaru was the one most bothered with this situation; they knew their leader was just as powerless as they are.

  
-- Back to the inn --

If you're back was facing the front door; the doorway to the kitchen would be located to your left, the stairs to the first floor right in front of you and the living and dining room to your right.   
[AN: Similar to Sango and Miroku's inn; only bigger and including a living room.]  
The dining and living rooms were built in the same space, with the dining room in the front and living room in the back. The fireplace was built in the wall in the far end of the living room. A big red round tapestry lied on the floor in front of the fireplace and there were two red diva's placed on it.

The dining room looked more like a restaurant. There were large and small wooden tables suitable for different amounts of visitors.  
Except for some tapestries, most of the floor was just dark wood. There were all sorts of decorations hanging on the wall: paintings, dried flowers or bouquets, animal trophies of hunts and so on.

Sesshoumaru entered the inn soundlessly and saw Kagome sitting on the red tapestry in front of the fireplace with her back facing him. She was dressed in a blue satin dress to her ankles and her hair was resting loosely on her back. She was talking to Inuyasha who was sitting on the windowsill near the fireplace.  
They were so deep in conversation that they didn't notice Sesshoumaru until he had almost reached the fireplace.

"Oh! You're back!!" Kagome said surprised as she quickly got to her feet. "And?" she asked.

Sesshoumaru didn't reply, he only looked straight at Inuyasha. 

"Kagome, could you and the rest go upstairs to your rooms first? I need to discuss something with Inuyasha alone." he finally spoke after a moment.

Kagome opened her mouth to ask what's wrong but was halted by Kouga when he put his hand on her shoulders and shook his head. So Kagome did as she was told and went upstairs to her room, followed by Kouga, Renkotsu and Kyoukotsu.

Sesshoumaru finally relaxed and started to walk closer to his brother after he heard the closing sounds of the bedroom doors.

"What's wrong?" Inuyasha asked with a serious voice.

"I have retrieved our next mission." Sesshoumaru replied as he handed the letter from Naraku to his brother.

Inuyasha took the letter and began to read it.

His eyes became wider as he read more of it. "For a whole year?!?" he cried disbelieving, jumping up from the windowsill.

"Lower your voice!" Sesshoumaru growled. "I do not want Kagome to know before I have got the chance to tell her myself."

"Y-you're not planning to take her with you?" Inuyasha asked surprised.

"I cannot do that." he replied.

"Why not?"

"She's with child." 

Inuyasha's eyes widened. "Whaat?! H-how do you know?! D-does she know??" 

Sesshoumaru looked at his little brother impatiently. "I can smell it on her, it's the same smell your mother had when she was carrying you." he explained with an annoyed voice. "But I do not think she knows about this yet since it has only been several weeks."

[AN: Inuyasha doesn't know because his parents died before they could teach him.]

"So...you're leaving her here?" Inuyasha asked worriedly.

"I do not want to leave her unprotected." Sesshoumaru answered. "That's why I'm asking you..."

"To...?" Inuyasha added.

"I want you and your friends to stay here by her side until I return."

Inuyasha gave his brother a puzzled look.

"The mission only mentioned me and my companions; you and the rest aren't involved in it." he explained as he averted his gaze. "You're the only one I can entrust her safety to, although she's pretty strong herself." he sighed.

Inuyasha smiled. "Don't worry, aniki, I'll protect her with my life, I promise." he reassured him. "Now go to her, she should be told about this as soon as possible. I'll tell Hiten and Bankotsu about this later."

Sesshoumaru nodded and headed towards the stairs.

  
-- At Sesshoumaru and Kagome's room --

  
It was a quite luxurious room (5 by 5 meters) compared to the one they rented at Sango and Miroku's inn.   
There were four lanterns standing in each corner of the bedroom; all four coated with silver and creating a very romantic and comfortable atmosphere with a very dim light.  
A queensize bed stood in the back of the room. The pillows were as white as snow and the quilt was as blue as the ocean. Next to the bed, there was a small wooden table with a round-shaped mirror standing on it. And next to the doorway stood a large closet made of dark Oakwood.

  
Kagome was polishing her arrowheads when Sesshoumaru entered their room. Her bow and quiver were resting on her lap as she continued to polish them.

"Kagome?" Sesshoumaru called out her name hesitatingly.

"Hm?" she replied, without looking up.

Sesshoumaru sat down on the bedside next to Kagome. "I need to tell you something." he said.

Kagome didn't reply, but Sesshoumaru knew she was already listening.

"I've retrieved the next mission." he paused before he continued. "It requires me to travel to a very far place. The mission is to take over a stronghold called Valkyrie and defend it until the Imperial army arrives. It will take about a year to accomplish it...and__"

"That's not a problem...we'll always stay together and fight alongside eachother, right?" Kagome cut him off, still not looking up at Sesshoumaru.

  
Sesshoumaru swallowed hard. 

"Kagome...I cannot take you with me..." Sesshoumaru finally managed to say.

Kagome finally stopped polishing and raised her head to look at him. "What...did you just say?" she asked surprised.

Sesshoumaru didn't reply; he didn't know whether he should tell her about she carrying their pup yet. "Inuyasha and his friends will stay here by your side and keep you company while I'm gone." he said, trying to ignore her question.  
He raised his hand and cupped her cheek. "The letter did not mention you...so I do not want this mission to involve you... it will be too dangerous..." he explained, not using her being pregnant as an argument.

Kagome dropped her face until her bangs were hiding her eyes.

"I have demanded the first halve of the reward of this mission as insurance and they have agreed to it, so if you need money, you can claim it at the counselor's house. You can rent a small house for the four of you." he continued as he gently stroked her cheek. "Kini shinaide, I'll accomplish the mission and return to your side as fast as I can. Then we can retrieve the other halve of the money and___"

Sesshoumaru froze when he felt something wet hitting his hand that was cupping Kagome's cheek.

The moonlight shone through the window and lit up the liquid crystal that traveled diagonally from the middle of his index finger to the other following fingers. The crystal left a small trail of tiny crystals as it continued its way down. It stopped when it reached his pinky.

It didn't take long before Sesshoumaru realized what it was that caused the tiny milkyway on his fingers.   
To him, the sight of Kagome's tear was just as rare as seeing the last dew drop at dawn; hanging at the tip of a blade of grass; ready to be let go and fall to Mother earth. 

"K-Kagome...?" he whispered.

Sesshoumaru widened his eyes when Kagome lifted her head to face him. Her eyes were filled with tears. Sesshoumaru was shocked to see his mate this vulnerable for the first time.

"I...I don't want the money....I don't want their company..." Kag said with a trembling voice. "I only want you..."

Sesshoumaru gave her a pained look. "Kagome, I__"   
He was caught off guard when kagome suddenly threw herself to his chest and buried her head in his haori. 

Clattering sounds filled the quiet room as her bow and quiver with arrows fell from her lap to the floor.

*Clatter...crackle...*

  
"Why!! Why are you leaving me when I need you by my side the most!!" she cried as she landed several frustrated punches on his chest. Tears were now streaming on her cheeks and disappearing into his haori. "What am I going to do on my own?! I-I even gave her a name already..." Kagome sobbed hard.

Sesshoumaru's eyes widened. _She...she's talking about our child..._ he realized. "You already knew..." he whispered.

Kagome clasped his haori. "Of course I knew!!" she cried. "It's my baby!! Our baby...our little Yuri..." Her voice gradually faltered.

Sesshoumaru wrapped his arms around her and held her close. "Yuri...kirei na namae..." He whispered, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"Onegai...don't go..." Kagome begged as she pulled back to face Sesshoumaru.

"Gomen nasai...Kagome, it is for you and Yuri that I must go." he apologized, wiping away the tears on her cheeks.

More tears appeared as Kagome dropped her face. "Doshite...why you...why now..." she sniffed as she gradually became calmer.

"I would sell my soul to the devil to be by your side when you're bringing our child to this world." Sesshoumaru answered with a sad voice. "But I cannot endanger you or Yuri's life."

  
Suddenly Kagome freed herself from his embrace and got off the bed. 

"Kagome...?"

"Gomen..." Kagome responded. "...but I really need to be alone for a while..."

Sesshoumaru was hurt by her words. "I'm leaving tomorrow morning at noon__"

"Do as you wish..." Kagome cut him off and walked towards the door and left.

After Kagome closed the door behind her, she made her way to the balcony, which was located at the end of the hall. She collapsed to her knees as soon as she closed the door of the balcony behind her and cried.

Sesshoumaru remained alone in their bedroom. He bared his fangs and clenched his claws. "Damn you, Naraku..." he growled.

~*~ The next day ~*~

  
Renkotsu, Kyoukotsu and Kouga had already prepared themselves for the mission and were standing outside the inn, waiting for their leader. Inuyasha, Bankotsu and Hiten were also there to see them off.

Sesshoumaru, who was fully equipped and ready to leave, closed the bedroom door and made his way to the stairs. _Kagome had not returned to me since last night..._ he thought disappointed and began to regret for accepting the mission.

  
"Sesshoumaru!!" a voice sounded from behind.

Sesshoumaru stopped walking. He recognized Kagome's voice and turned around. His eyes widened when they fell on Kagome's figure at the end of the hallway.

Her raven hair shone under the bright sunlight that came through the balcony door behind her. Beautiful locks were resting loosely on her shoulders. Kagome was wearing an azure colored dress to her ankles, with a V-shaped neckline. The dress accentuated every curve on her slender figure. The sleeves of her dress were three-quarter sleeves and the ends were decorated with long silky lace.

"You thought that I'm still mad at you and that I wouldn't be there to see you off, didn't you?" Kagome suddenly spoke.

To Sesshoumaru's surprise, a smile appeared on her beautiful face. "These clothes suit me better, don't you agree?" she said cheerfully as she looked at herself. She started to walk towards Sesshoumaru after a short moment of silence. "I'll take that as a yes, since my beauty has made you speechless." she giggled as she stopped in front of him.

Sesshoumaru didn't know how to respond to her sudden cheerfulness and gave her a hard look.

"Now...don't look at me like that. Heki desu...Inuyasha will keep me company..." Kagome insisted. _Damn it...why doesn't he say something...? It's so hard to stay strong while looking into his eyes..._ she swallowed, pushing back her tears as hard as she could. "H-hontou ni...daijoubu d-desu..." Kagome's voice started to tremble.

Sesshoumaru widened his eyes as he realized Kagome was crying again. _She's acting strong in order to make me feel better..._ he realized with a pained look on his face.

"Chikusho...I thought I had cried out all the tears last night..." Kagome sobbed, not looking away from the golden orbs. "G-gomen...I didn't want to make you feel guilty..." she cried as more tears appeared. "I___"

Kagome was cut off when Sesshoumaru suddenly pulled her into his embrace and sealed her lips with his.

His hold tightened as he started to kiss her more passionately. And Kagome answered by throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him back.

After they broke their kiss, Kagome leaned her head on his chest, right under his chin and Sesshoumaru stroked her hair with his hand. 

"I'll wait for you...." Kagome whispered contented as she leaned closer to him. "...dakara onegai...come back alive." 

Sesshoumaru pulled away a little and took something out of his sleeve. He held his hand in front of Kagome. "Here...I want you to have this." he said as he unfolded his hand, revealing a beautiful silver necklace and a pendant, shaped like a flame, attached to it. The silver blue cat's-eye stone shone like a crystal at the center of the pendant.  
"This belonged to my mother. My father gave it to her when he proposed to her." Sesshoumaru explained. "I want you to have it."

"Kirei..." Kagome gasped at the sight of the ornament. 

"Here, let me help you put it on." Sesshoumaru offered as he leaned closer to her. 

He took a step backwards after he finished. "It looks perfect on you." he smiled. 

The pendant fitted perfectly in the bare spot caused by the V-shaped neckline of Kagome's dress. Kagome took the pendant in her hand and stroked the silver blue stone carefully. "Arigatou..." she whispered. 

"I promise you Kagome..." Sesshoumaru spoke with a serious tone, causing Kagome to look up at him again. "...that I will return to your side alive."

Kagome smiled and slightly nodded, before she took a step forward and leaned her head on his chest again,

"Aishiteru..." she whispered softly as she closed her eyes.

Sesshoumaru wrapped his arms around her waist and held her closer. He was happy to hear her say those words for the first time. He knew she meant it. "Aishiteru..." he replied with a gentle voice.

They broke their embrace when they heard someone coming up the stairs.

It was Inuyasha.

"Aniki, they are already waiting for you outside." he said, knowing that it was hard for them to separate. But he also knew that his brother couldn't turn back anymore.

Sesshoumaru nodded and went downstairs together with Inuyasha and Kagome. 

  
Just before he reached the door, he turned around to Inuyasha, who was now standing next to Kagome. "I entrust her safety to you now Inuyasha, so take good care of her while I'm gone." he said.

And then something followed in a language that Kagome didn't understand. The youkai language.   
Kagome noticed the increasing seriousness on both their faces. After Sesshoumaru finished, she saw Inuyasha nod in reply. 

Sesshoumaru relaxed after receiving his brother's acknowledgment and turned to Kagome. "I'll come back...kanarazu..." he said as he took her hand in his.

Kagome responded with a warm smile. "Kyotsukete...koishii."

Sesshoumaru then released her hand and turned around to leave the building. Kagome and Inuyasha followed him outside.

  
"Sesshoumaru-sama." the three faithful youkai greeted in unison. 

"Iku zo." Sesshoumaru ordered with a clear voice, before he started to walk towards the city gate.

Kyoukotsu, Renkotsu and Kouga turned to Kagome. "Kagome-sama, stay healthy and take good care of yourself." Kouga said worriedly.

"We'll return as soon as we've accomplished the mission." Kyoukotsu added. 

"None of us will be left behind and we'll return safe and sound." Renkotsu finished.

Kagome nodded and smiled. "Kyotsukete and take care of your leader for me." 

The three youkai nodded and turned around to catch up with Sesshoumaru.

  
Sesshoumaru didn't take another last look at Kagome before he walked out of the gate, because the image of her warm smile was already burnt inside his mind. He wanted to keep the same image in his head until he returns.  
Kagome understood this and waved happily in the air until he disappeared out of sight.

_I'll wait for your return...zutto..._

* * *

**Vocabulary:**  
**Kini shinaide:** Don't worry  
**Kirei na namae:** Beautiful name  
**Onegai: **Please/I beg you  
**Gomen nasai:** I'm sorry  
**Doshite:** Why  
**Heki desu:** Slang for "I'm fine."  
**Hontou ni:** Really/I mean it  
**Daijoubu desu:** It's alright/I'm alright or okay  
**Chikusho:** Shit/Damn it  
**Dakara:** That's why  
**Kirei:** Beautiful  
**Arigatou:** Thank you  
**Aishiteru:** I love you  
**Aniki:** Older brother  
**Kanarazu:** Surely/Definitely/Without fail  
**Kyotsukete:** Take care (of yourself)  
**Koishii: **Beloved  
**Iku zo:** A less polite form of "Let's go."  
**Zutto:** Forever  
**-sama:** This is for people that you respect deeply when you say this after their name (_name_-sama). Sometimes parents, but mostly reserved for rulers and god. 

Posted: 12 September 2003  
Last Edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tag problems)  
Spelling check: YES 


	14. Conspiracy behind the curtains

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients into a new story.

_Italic_: thoughts   
-- --: locations   
"...": spoken words   
~*~*~*~*~: time gap   
*...* : noises  
  


* * *

  


**AN ELVES' CHILD**

-by Kittymui-

  
**Conspiracy behind the curtains**

**Previously:**  
Sesshoumaru didn't take another last look at Kagome before he walked out of the gate, because the image of her warm smile was already burnt inside his mind. He wanted to keep the same image in his head until he returns.  
Kagome understood this and waved happily in the air until he disappeared out of sight. _I'll wait for your return...zutto... _

~*~*~*~

  
The first couple of weeks after Sesshoumaru and his companions' departure was truly hard for Kagome to endure. But with Inuyasha and his friends' company, it became gradually more bearable.

They had rented a small house just like Sesshoumaru had told them to and time slowly passed by peacefully. Their house stood close to the marketplace at the center of Mayr; it was a row house with a small backyard. It had 2 floors: the ground floor with the kitchen, living room and hallway and the first floor with the bathroom and 2 bedrooms.

If you entered through the front door, you will be finding yourself in a small hallway with the stairs to the upper floor to your right and the doorway to the living room to your left. The living room and dining rooms were built in the same space. If you entered the living room via the hallway, the dining room would be the right halve of the space. The doorway to the kitchen was located in the same wall as the doorway to the living room, only on the other side of the space. You can go to the backyard via the kitchen.   
[AN: The back and front door are on the same line if you look at the house from above. But there is a wall between the hallway and the kitchen.]  
The walls were made of bricks and the floor was made of wood.

They only bought necessary things for their house: two blue sofa's for the living room, a wooden table set for four in the dining room, two regular beds, two closets, useful kitchen stuff and so on. They didn't buy things like decorations for the house because they didn't want to spend too much money. 

But there was one decoration hanging on the wall between the doorway to the kitchen and the one to the hallway: Kagome's bow and quiver with arrows. Since she had promised Sesshoumaru not to carry or use them, she had hung them to the wall. She would pick them up again as soon as her baby was born.

  
Two months passed and it was still possible for Kagome to go everywhere she wanted, since her belly wasn't showing yet. She did all the errands, accompanied by Inuyasha and Hiten and Bankotsu did the chores at home. They had made a compromise that someone else would do the errands when it becomes difficult for Kagome to move around.  
These months were maintained with the remaining money of the reward of their last mission (merchandiser). But then it was time that they should pay a visit to the counselor.

  
~*~ One day ~*~

"Sesshoumaru told me that he demanded the first halve of the reward as insurance." Kagome explained to the rest. "He said that we should be able to claim it if we needed it."

Inuyasha nodded. "Okay, then it's decided. We'll go to the counselor's mansion." he suggested and turned to Hiten and Bankotsu. "You two stay here and guard the house until we return."

Hiten and Bankotsu nodded in reply. "Don't worry, we'll do some clean ups in the meantime." Bankotsu said.

Kagome and Inuyasha left the house and headed towards the mansion..

  
-- At the mansion --

  
"Who's there?" a girl's voice asked from behind the huge wooden front door. 

_Probably the maid._ Kagome thought. "Tell the counselor that it's the wife of Sesshoumaru who demands to speak to him." she replied with a haughty clear voice.

Kagome didn't realize that Naraku was actually standing right behind the maid. _Hmpf!_ he snickered inwardly. _ Quite an arrogant woman...like husband like wife huh? _ he thought annoyed. "Let her in and tell her to come to my office." he ordered the maid before he walked away.

The maid opened the door as she was told. "Come in, he's waiting for you in his office."

  
Inuyasha entered the mansion after Kagome and followed her to the office. It was not a big office. It had a white carpet, white walls and long red curtains hanging in front of the windows at the back of the room. There were bookshelves standing against the walls on the left and right side. Certificates and paintings hung on the walls as decorations. A wooden desk stood in the center of the room not far from the windows. If you entered the room you would find yourself facing the person behind the desk and the red curtains behind him.

They both narrowed their eyes as they saw the person behind the desk. It was the first time that they met Naraku but they already knew by his looks that he couldn't be trusted.

_He looks so much like____ Kagome's thoughts were cut off when Naraku's voice sounded through the office. "What is it that you wish to see me for, woman." he asked with a serious voice. _This is Sesshoumaru's wife?! She's more beautiful and graceful than I've thought!!_ he thought surprised as he scanned Kagome from top to bottom. 

Kagome was wearing a silky white dress embedded with sewed golden flowers. It was a tight dress to her ankles that accentuated every single curve of her body. There wasn't a single day that Kagome had not worn the necklace that Sesshoumaru had given her. The beautiful ornament added more gracefulness to her appearance with every dress that she chose to wear.

He snapped out of his thoughts when Kagome suddenly replied with the same haughty voice. "My name is Kagome, not woman, and I'm the wife of Sesshoumaru." she started. "I have come here to claim the first halve of the money that you've promised my husband."

Naraku's expression became slightly annoyed but he quickly hid it before the two noticed it. "Ah I see, yes indeed. My servant will give it to you when you leave." Naraku agreed with a casual voice. _Impudent woman, you don't know who you are talking to..._ he cursed in his mind at the same time. 

"Good, then I shall take my leave now." Kagome said before she turned around to leave.

"I believe your husband has already arrived at his destination. I hope he'll successfully accomplish the mission." Naraku suddenly started with a mocking voice, causing Kagome to stop. 

Inuyasha growled at him but was stopped when Kagome held up her hand and looked over her shoulder to Naraku.

"It would be such a pity to lose a remarkable and strong mercenary like him." Naraku quickly added.

To his surprise, a smirk appeared on the girl's face. "Don't worry, I'm sure he'll accomplish the mission without fail and return unharmed. I suggest you better prepare the other halve of the money and wait for his return." she responded.  
With that, Kagome turned to leave again with Inuyasha following her.

  
The smile on Naraku's face dropped as soon as the door of his office closed. He let himself drop into his chair and closed his eyes.

"What do you want?" he asked after a short moment of silence; slightly annoyed.

A shadow suddenly appeared behind the long red curtains behind Naraku's chair. "I trusted you that you would be able to fulfill my demands, but you disappoint me." the voice spoke calmly. 

Naraku frowned. "I guess you weren't specific enough huh? How should I know that there were others?" he replied plainly.

"Hmpf...a nuisance...there are two more at her house, all youkai. Now take care of it!!" it demanded before it disappeared.

"Teme...!!!" Naraku cursed aloud. _I can't believe I'm actually letting myself being ordered by him...but then again..._ An evil grin appeared on his face. _ I'll also benefit from this if I fulfilled his desire..._ he mused as he took some letter paper out of his drawer. _'Cause nobody messes with the powerful Naraku..._ he snickered inwardly.

-- Back to Kagome's house --

  
"You'd almost scared me with that haughty behavior." Inuyasha smiled.

Kagome grinned. "I'm not the same scared and quiet girl I used to be and I want everyone to know that."

"You were a scared and quiet girl? Now you're surprising me again." Inuyasha responded as he sat down on the sofa in the living room.

Kagome sat down next to him but the smile on her face disappeared as she did that. "Yeah...I used to be the outcast of the village..." she explained.

"A beautiful and brave girl like you?? No way...hahaha...must have been your strange hair color then..." Inuyasha said jokingly. But he stopped laughing when Kagome turned to face him with a sad expression.

"It was..." she replied.

Inuyasha became silent. _Me with my big mouth..._ he cursed himself. "I-I was only joking!!" he quickly added.

Kagome averted her gaze and looked elsewhere. "I was hated and despised because of my hair- and eye color...even by my own parents..." Kagome continued. "I was punished everyday of things I didn't do...it was hard..."

Inuyasha's eyes hardened. _What a cruel past...mine's not even comparable to hers. _ he thought sadly. He didn't know why but he felt the sudden urge to hold Kagome and comfort her. But he restrained himself from doing it as he recalled their relationship.

Suddenly Kagome turned to face him again; this time she wasn't looking so sad anymore. "But that was until I met your brother." she smiled weakly. "He saved me from those horrible memories and accepted me even thought I wasn't a youkai." 

  
"Gomen nasai." Inuyasha suddenly apologized, causing a puzzled look on Kagome's face. "For making you remember your past." he added.

Kagome smiled. "Share yours with me and all is forgiven." she stated.

When she saw the serious expression on his face, Kagome quickly waved her hand and quickly added. "Just joking!! Just__"

"My mother was human..." Inuyasha started his story; cutting her off. "People hated her for marrying my father, who was a full-blooded youkai...and then...I was born...a hanyou..." he continued. "I was hated for not being pureblooded. Youkai didn't accept me for being partly human and humans didn't accept me for I was partly youkai. After both my parents died, I had to become strong in order to defend myself from those who wanted to get rid of me."

A moment of silence took place.

  
"Then I met Hiten and Bankotsu, who shared the same past and we became good friends." Inuyasha finished with a small smile.   
He turned to Kagome. "My past may not be as sad as yours." he spoke. "But I know how you have felt or must have felt back then."

Kagome responded with a warm smile. _Arigatou...Inuyasha..._ she thanked him inwardly.

"Well then...am I forgiven??" Inuyasha suddenly asked with a smile.

Kagome nodded and stood up from the sofa. "I wonder where Hiten and Bankotsu are..." 

"Now that you mention it, I haven't seen them since we got back from the counselor." Inuyasha replied as he followed her example.

"Maybe upstairs." Kagome suggested and headed towards the hallway with Inuyasha following her.

They've searched Kagome's bedrooms and stopped when they reached the other one. "Found them." Kagome whispered.

Hiten and Bankotsu were sleeping inside their bedroom (AN: Inuyasha, Hiten and Bankotsu share the same bedroom). Hiten was lying on the bed and Bankotsu was leaning against the bedside on the floor.

"I guess they were tired of doing chores huh?" Kagome smiled. "Let's not wake them up until dinner." 

Inuyasha agreed and they went downstairs again after closing the bedroom door.

  
~*~ After dinner ~*~

  
Kagome was lying on her bed and staring at the ceiling. _ I wonder how Sesshoumaru is doing?_ she thought to herself as she closed her eyes. _Sesshoumaru...I miss you..._ Were her last thoughts before sleep claimed her.

--- Deep in the forest, somewhere far from Mayr ---

Sesshoumaru was sitting on a high thick branch and leaning against the trunk of the tree with his eyes closed.

He, his companions and another large group of mercenaries led by a tiger youkai called Tigre were staying put in the forest not very far away from the Valkyrie stronghold.

It was as though he heard Kagome's voice in his mind; Sesshoumaru slowly opened his eyes. "Kagome..." he whispered her name as he took something out of his sleeve. Kagome's scent filled the air as he held it in front of him. It was a lock of raven black hair tied together with a thin navy blue sash.   
Sesshoumaru sniffed the air and closed his eyes again. _ I miss you too...koishii..._ he replied in his mind.

--- Back to Mayr ---  


Another 4 months have passed peacefully and it became winter; a soft winter. 

Kagome was washing the dishes and Inuyasha stood next to her, helping her with drying the dishes. Hiten and Bankotsu were sparring in the small backyard of the house.

Kagome's belly was starting to show now but it wasn't very big that it would trouble her with the household. 

"Ne Inuyasha? Why did it take longer than 6 months for my little Yuri to grow this little?" Kagome asked worriedly as she untied her apron. "There's nothing wrong with her, is there?"

"Don't worry too much Kagome." Inuyasha reassured her. "I'm sure it's nothing serious."

Kagome gave him a look filled with uncertainty and fear. 

"I recall my mother once told me..." Inuyasha quickly added, not wanting to see such expression on Kagome's face. "...that she carried me for 12 long months before I was born. She also said that it was partly because of me being a hanyou and not completely human or youkai. That's why you shouldn't worry too much about it, okay?" 

Kagome relaxed after hearing Inuyasha's explanation. "Thank you." she said relieved. _I wonder how long it will take for my little Yuri...I hope he'll make it back in time._ she thought at the same time.

"How do you know it's going to be a girl?" Inuyasha suddenly asked.

"Instinct." Kagome replied. "And I want the baby to be a girl." she added.

"What's her name again?" 

"It's Yuri."

"It's a beautiful name." Inuyasha smiled. "Here let me help you." he said as he offered her his hand to help her walk into the living room.

Kagome took his hand and slowly made her way to the sofa.

[AN: Kagome is wearing a loose navy blue dress. She had decided not to wear anything tight for the time being, for she didn't want her baby to be uncomfortable in her belly.]

"Thank you." Kagome thanked him again as she settled herself comfortably on the sofa.

"You don't have to thank me that much you know." Inuyasha responded, sitting down next to her.

"It's for all the things you've done for me and Yuri." Kagome continued. "You take care of us and protect us...really I can't thank you enough." 

Inuyasha turned to her and smiled. "My brother would kill me if I didn't and besides..." he said as he raised his hand to her face and brushed away some strands out of her face. "...we're family, right?" he added after a short moment of silence.

Kagome smiled and nodded as she raised her hand to touch his.

Suddenly some knocking sound on the front door surprised them. 

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

"I'll get it." Inuyasha said as he stood up and made his way to the hallway.

He opened the door and realized it was a messenger dressed in a formal green suit.

"A letter from the Imperial Force. Good day." After handing the letter to Inuyasha, the messenger turned around and left.

Kagome watched Inuyasha as he entered the living room and sat down next to her again. 

"Here, you read it." he said as he gave the letter to Kagome. "I don't think I can read the human language."

Kagome took the letter. _Imperial Force...? News from Sesshoumaru?!?_ she thought wide-eyed and quickly unfolded the letter.

Her face dropped as soon as she read the letter.

"What's wrong? What's it saying?? Is it Sesshoumaru??" Inuyasha asked worriedly.

Kagome shook her head but her expression, which was showing a little bit of fear and puzzlement, remained unchanged.

After finishing the letter, she put it on her lap and sighed. " It says that an army of the East has been discovered not very far from Mayr and that the Imperial Army are planning to launch a pre-emptive attack." she explained. "But their amount of soldiers isn't enough...so they're recruiting youkai with this letter." 

"So what about it? We won't leave you here behind." Bankotsu suddenly spoke from the doorway to the kitchen. He and Hiten finished sparring and had heard Kagome's explanation as they entered.

"This isn't all of it." Kagome continued. "This letter is practically a threat...it's obligating every single youkai to join the army..." 

"Or what?" Hiten growled angrily.

"Or they will have you executed...along with every single person who were involved." Kagome replied with her gaze averted.

All three youkai widened their eyes. "They...WHAT?! They can't do that!!" Inuyasha roared angrily but calmed himself when he saw Kagome whimper at his rage. "Chikusho..." he cursed.

"I rather die than be ordered by a threat." Hiten snarled.

Bankotsu shook his head. "We all do...but we cannot involve Kagome in this." he reasoned.

Then everyone became silent until Kagome decided to speak again. "I know that you all care for me and my safety." she started. "As much as I don't want to be separated from you three, I have to admit that the only option for you is to go."

"But..." Inuyasha began.

"There's no other way...don't worry about me; I'll be fine." Kagome cut him off as she stood up.

  
~*~ The next day ~*~

  
Kagome stood at the doorway and the three youkai stood outside in front of the house.

"Thank you for taking care of us until now." Kagome smiled as she handed a bag of nourishments and clothes to Bankotsu.

Inuyasha looked at Kagome with a hard expression.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." Kagome reassured Inuyasha as she turned to him.

Bankotsu and Hiten decided to leave the two alone and headed towards the city gate.

Inuyasha averted his gaze.

Kagome raised her hand to his cheek and forced him to look at her. "Listen Inuyasha, really, I'll be fine so don't worry, okay?" she repeated herself as if she was ordering Inuyasha not to worry.

She was surprised when Inuyasha suddenly grasped her hand. "Take really good care of yourself Kagome." he said with a gentle voice as he squeezed her hand a little.

Kagome replied with a warm smile and a nod.

After seeing that, Inuyasha turned around and walked towards Hiten and Bankotsu who were standing near the gate.

_Anyone who dares to lay his finger on Kagome will be ripped apart by my own claws..._ Inuyasha growled inwardly as he took one last look at the waving Kagome before he exited the gate.

After watching them disappear out of sight, Kagome dropped her arm to her side. She was now all alone again.

* * *

**Vocabulary:**  
**zutto: **forever  
**youkai:** demon  
**teme:** a very very rude way to say 'you', like 'you bastard'  
**gomen nasai:** I'm sorry  
**hanyou: **half demon  
**arigatou**: thank you  
**koishii:** beloved  
**chikusho:** damn/shit

Posted: 19 September 2003  
Last Edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tag problems)  
Spelling check: YES 


	15. Shocking news

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients into a new story.

_Italic_: thoughts   
-- --: locations   
"...": spoken words   
~*~*~*~*~: time gap   
*...* : noises

* * *

  


**AN ELVES' CHILD**

-by Kittymui-

  
**Shocking news**

**Previously: **  
After watching them disappear out of sight, Kagome dropped her arm to her side. She was now all alone again.

  
~*~*~*~*~

A month passed after Inuyasha, Hiten and Bankotsu's departure and it became more difficult for Kagome to move around with her normal pace. Not that her belly was too big but it was her first time to carry a baby and she had never experienced it before.  
But she had never thought for 1 second to abandon her unborn baby no matter how tough it was; she would always let her instincts guide her whenever she was lost.

She didn't know whether it was Sesshoumaru's necklace that gave her the knowledge or that it came from deep inside her because of her origin as an elf, but she didn't care. She didn't need to know the origin of her knowledge; as long as it's good for her unborn child, she would take advantage of it.

  
~*~ One day ~*~

Kagome was sitting in the living room and silently reading a book until someone knocked at her door.

*KNOCK KNOCK*

_Who might that be?_ Kagome thought as she slowly got up and made her way to the door.

When she opened it, she realized it was a young girl, dressed like a maid in black and white.

"Yes?" Kagome asked.

"My lord Naraku wishes to speak with you. He said he had news about your husband, Sesshoumaru." the maid replied politely.

Kagome widened her eyes. _Sesshoumaru??_   
"Wait a minute, I'll be right back." she responded hastily as she walked back into her house again.

Kagome quickly grabbed her brown leather coat, since it was quite cold outside and left her house. She followed the maid to the counselor's mansion.

  
-- At the mansion --

  
"Ah...welcome." Naraku said as he watched Kagome enter his office.

"I believe you have news for me about my husband." Kagome said with the same haughty voice.

"Yes...I have..." Naraku replied as he stood up from his chair. "Won't you sit down...with your condition.?" _She's pregnant? Well well...he won't like this..._ he thought amused at the same time.

"No thank you, I'm sure it won't take long." Kagome responded. 

Naraku took a folded letter out of his breast pocket and opened it. "I'm afraid this won't be the news that you've expected..." he began.

Kagome remained calm on the outside but began to panic on the inside. _ Oh no...please...don't tell me he's..._   
"Is my husband hurt? Or severely injured?" she asked with an uncertain tone.

"The Imperial Army was planned to arrive several days after the successful takeover of the Valkyrie stronghold by the group of mercenaries, which includes your husband." Naraku explained. "But they were too late..." 

Kagome put a hand on her mouth of shock. "W-what...do you mean by that?" 

"My lady, I think you should__"

"TELL ME!!!" she cut him off with a loud and trembling voice.

Naraku was quite taken aback by the sudden outburst of the woman in front of him, who was calm several minutes ago. "Kagome..." Naraku finally spoke after a moment of silence. "...your husband is dead."

Kagome took several steps backwards. _Oh my god...no...it can't...this can't be happening..._ she said to herself inwardly.

"When the Army arrived, all the mercenaries had already been massacred by a sudden counterattack of the enemy. No one was found alive." Naraku continued. "Please, pull yourself together...it was an honorable death, he died for the sake of the kingdom."

Kagome didn't listen at all and grabbed the wall behind her for support.

"I will give you the other halve of the reward to compensate__"

"I don't WANT your damn money!!!!" Kagome suddenly cut him off with a loud cry and left the office after slamming the door behind her.

Naraku stared wide-eyed at the closed door and sat down again. _Not a single drop of tear...quite remarkable..._ he smirked at the thought.

[AN: In case you're wondering, Kagome is wearing a (long) loose white dress with long sleeves. It looks more like a gown you wear for sleeping.]

-- Back to her house --

Kagome was silent during her way back to her house. She locked the door and let her coat fall on the floor before she went upstairs to her room.

She stood in front of her bed and raised her hand to touch her pendant that Sesshoumaru gave her. 

"Sesshoumaru..." she whispered his name as a tear rolled down her cheek.

More tears appeared as she repeated his name several times.  
"Sesshoumaru...S-Sesshoumaru..." her voice gradually faltered until no sound came from her throat and she finally let herself collapse to her knees in front of the bedside. She buried her head in her arms, which were resting on the edge of the bed.

"Why?!?!" she cried. "Y-you promised me...you promised..." she sobbed. "What about me and Yuri...?!"

"Why...is this happening to me...?"

  
~*~ Evening ~*~

  
Kagome stopped crying when the sun set. It was as if she couldn't cry anymore.

_I...I have to pull myself together...I still have Yuri..._ she thought as she dried her tears with her sleeves and got back on her feet again.

Suddenly she heard some noise coming from downstairs.

*SCREAK*

_What was that??_ Kagome thought alerted. _There shouldn't be someone else here but me..._

Kagome soundlessly made her way to the stairs and listened. 

_Maybe it was my imagination..._ she thought after listening a moment and slowly descended the stairs.

When Kagome entered the dark living room she felt a sudden breeze passing her by and looked at the open window.

_I thought I closed it..._ she thought, narrowing her eyes. 

Then it suddenly struck her. 

_Someone's here...!!_

Kagome quietly made her way to the wall where she had hung her bow and quiver with arrows. _I need to defend myself._ she thought determined.

Just when she had almost reached them, something suddenly pushed her aside with a strong force, causing her to fall towards the sofa.

_My baby!!_ Kagome thought protectively and quickly turned herself to let her back fall onto the sofa first.

"Who's there!?!" she shouted furiously after landing on the sofa.

"Tsk tsk...you wanted to use your favorite weapon against me, don't you?" a male voice sounded through the room together with the sound of footsteps.

[AN: The sun already set and it's dark so they can't see each other.]

"Who are you?!" 

"Well...can't you guess who I am...after we've known each other for so long...??" he replied.

_Been together for so long...?_ Kagome thought puzzled. "What are you talking about?! I don't know you!!" she spat frustratingly.

"Why...? Why did you betray me...why have you married a youkai?" the voice sounded frustrated as it said these words. "I admired you...worshipped you...and now you're carrying his child instead of mine?!?"

_He must be crazy or something..._ Kagome thought disgusted. _ Chikusho...if only I could see where he's standing..._

"Answer me!!!! Why?! Kikyou...why did you have to hurt my feelings?!?" he cried.

_Kikyou...?? Who's that...?_ Kagome thought surprised.

Suddenly two strong arms came out of nowhere and grabbed her shoulders.

"Why?! Why...!?!" he repeated as he shook her shoulders.

"Hanashite!!" Kagome shrieked as she struggled under his grip.

She swung her arms and kicked everywhere until she hit something with her leg.

"AARGGHH!!" a loud cry echoed through the room.

When the grip on her shoulders loosened, Kagome quickly pushed the person away and got up from the sofa. But as soon as she got to her feet, she was grabbed by her right upper arm. 

"Let me go!! You freak!!" she cried, trying to shake off his hand from her arm.

"You bitch!!" the voice cursed.

Then Kagome suddenly felt a very hard blow landing on her right cheek, causing her to stumble to the wooden floor.

*WHAM*

The blow didn't knock her unconscious but it was hard enough to make her dizzy and blurry her vision.

"Oh my god!!! What have I done!! I'm sorry...I'm terribly sorry for hitting you...Kikyou please forgive me!!" he apologized with a panicked voice. "But you hurt me too you know...too much...I can't let anyone have you..."

Kagome groaned and tried to get away by pushing the floor using her arms and feet. _Somebody...please...help me..._ she begged inwardly.

"I have to get rid of the bastard's child...that's the only way for us to be together again..." he spoke again.

Kagome widened her eyes and looked up to where she heard the voice.

"This will hurt a little, love..." the voice whispered.

Kagome quickly curled herself into a ball to protect her belly and closed her eyes. _Onegai...dareka...tasukete!!_ she sobbed in her mind.

"Forgive me for this...Kikyou!!" he roared.

  
*THUMP*

  
When Kagome didn't feel anything except for a soft breeze, she opened her eyes.

Her vision was still blurry but she knew she wasn't lying on the floor anymore. 

She groaned.

"Kagome?! Are you okay?!" a worried voice sounded from above her.

Kagome widened her eyes at hearing the voice and looked up.

Several rays of moonlight came through the window and lit up some strands of silver hair.

Kagome gasped. _S-Sesshoumaru?!_

* * *

**Vocabulary: **  
**hanashite:** Let go (of me)  
**chikusho:** Damn/shit  
**onegai:** I beg you/please  
**dareka: **somebody  
**tasukete:** save/help me

  
**EXPLANATIONS OF THE CHARACTERS IN THIS CHAPTER:**

**Kikyou:** Although she's not related to Kagome, their looks resembles each other very much. One would certainly think they were twins if they stood next to each other. She won't appear in person in this story, more information about her will be given in the next chapter. 

Posted: 24 September 2003  
Last Edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tag problems)  
Spelling check: YES 


	16. Revealed

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients into a new story.

_Italic_: thoughts   
-- --: locations   
"...": spoken words   
~*~*~*~*~: time gap   
*...* : noises  
  


* * *

  


**AN ELVES' CHILD**

-by Kittymui-

  
**Revealed**

**Previously: **  
"Kagome?! Are you okay?!" a worried voice sounded from above her.  
Kagome widened her eyes at hearing the voice and looked up.  
Several rays of moonlight came through the window and lit up some silver strands of hair.  
Kagome gasped. _S-Sesshoumaru?!_

~*~*~

"Kagome!! Talk to me!!" Are you okay??" the voice asked again.

_No...it's not Sesshoumaru's voice..._ Kagome realized, slightly disappointed. 

"I...Inuyasha..." 

Inuyasha relaxed a little after hearing her response. _She's still conscious...thank god..._ he thought relieved.  
He looked up and growled. "Come out and show yourself Musou!! Teme...I know you're here!!"

Kagome blinked. _M-Musou...? H-how does Inuyasha know that it's him...?_ she wondered as she heard the sound of footsteps on the wooden floor.

Within seconds, the living room was flooded with the light coming from the lantern that was lit up by the intruder.

Kagome looked at the person who was standing near the sofa and widened her eyes as she realized it was really Musou who attacked her.

He was wearing a black haori and hakama. A katana shaped blade was tied to his waist with a white sash. The lantern lighted up his eyes and a strange glow could be seen in them, almost as if it were the eyes of an obsessive predator.  
Musou narrowed his eyes. "It's you!!" he growled.

Inuyasha smirked. "Yeah, I've come to mess up with your evil plans!!"

Kagome shifted her gaze from Musou to where Inuyasha's voice came from. As she looked up to Inuyasha, she realized she was in the arms of Inuyasha (bridal style).

"H-how..." Kagome started.

Inuyasha turned to look down at her.

"How did you__" she repeated but stopped when a smile appeared on his face.

"Remember the day Sesshoumaru left for the mission? When he spoke to me in a language you didn't understand?" he asked.

Kagome slightly nodded.

[FLASHBACK]

  
"I entrust her safety to you now, Inuyasha, so take good care of her for me." Sesshoumaru spoke.

{In youkai language} "Beware of Naraku and Musou...especially that Musou. I'm sure that he is after Kagome in some way. I believe this mission, which is causing us to separate, is because of him too. So no matter what happens, do not leave her alone." 

Inuyasha's expression became serious and he nodded in reply.

  
[END FLASHBACK]

"He told me that I should beware of Naraku and him." Inuyasha explained as he looked up to glare at Musou. "I suspected that there was something wrong about the threatening recruit but I had to go because I didn't want to endanger Kagome in the first place."

"But..." Inuyasha spoke after a moment of silence and shifted his gaze from Musou to Kagome again. "...I became more worried the longer I left you alone, Kagome. Hiten and Bankotsu noticed that and persuaded me to go back to your side when we were halfway. So I came back...and I'm happy to have done that." 

Both their attention were drawn again as Musou suddenly chuckled.

"Yes indeed...I persuaded aniki to help me fulfill my desire. I had him send away Sesshoumaru and his group but I was shocked to see you still by her side when you came to my brother to claim the first halve of the reward. I was enraged to find out that you've been living with him and his friends in the same house..." he growled and then followed by a smirk. "So...I had aniki send them away too."

Musou shifted his gaze from Inuyasha to Kagome. "...because you're mine...I can't let anybody else have you...not even when you have reincarnated...hahaha, you can't get away...never...Kikyou...NEVER! You hear me!?!" he cried frustratingly.

_Reincarnation...? T-then...then Kikyou was..._ Kagome thought shocked.

"You betrayed me...so...I had to punish you for that...b-but I didn't mean to kill you...it's true!!!" Musou spoke with a trembling voice. "I...I...it was a mistake...I-I missed you so much, you know. But... you came back...came back...I was so happy to see you again!!" His voice became gradually more excited as he continued.

Suddenly his expression changed again. It was replaced by one filled with disgust and hatred. "But now you've betrayed me again, you bitch! With that...that disgusting inuyoukai!" he growled insanely. "So...I'll have to punish you again..."

Kagome clasped Inuyasha's haori and unconsciously leaned closer to him as she heard more about Musou's insane past. _H-he...he killed the girl...K-Kikyou..._ she concluded terrified. _And now he's seeing me as her reincarnation!_

Inuyasha noticed the increasing fear coming from Kagome and responded by holding her closer to him.  
"You sick bastard!" he growled angrily. "I don't exactly know what you did in the past with the girl you call Kikyou and I don't want to know...but I'll never forgive you for attacking Kagome!!"

Musou laughed hysterically. "Hahahaha...who's Kagome...? That's not Kagome...that's Kikyou...my Kikyou...you're holding my Kikyou... I'll KILL YOU FOR THAT!!" he roared as he unsheathed his long blade and lunged forward at Inuyasha and Kagome.

"Can you stand?" Inuyasha asked Kagome. 

After she nodded in reply, Inuyasha gently put her on her feet by moving his arm away that was lifting up her legs. His other arm didn't move and was still holding on to her waist protectively.

When Musou almost reached them, Kagome closed her eyes and buried her face in Inuyasha's haori.

  
*CLASH*

  
As Kagome opened her eyes again, she saw that Inuyasha was blocking Musou's blade with his unsheathed and transformed Tetsusaiga.

"Kagome...move to a safer place in the room...he's about to break and it will be more dangerous if he completely lost sanity." he warned Kagome.

Kagome nodded and backed away as he released her waist. She walked towards the doorway to the kitchen and hid herself a little behind the doorframe.

Inuyasha growled as he noticed that Musou's eyes were locked on Kagome. "You leave her out of this!!" he snarled as he pushed Musou back with his sword.

Musou was forced to take several steps backwards but he lunged forward to Inuyasha again shortly after he regained his balance. "She's MINE!!!" he yelled as he dashed towards Inuyasha.

*CLASH*

Inuyasha blocked the attack again. "Persistent bastard!!" he growled as he put more strength in resisting.

  
_I should help him..._ Kagome thought as she came out of the kitchen again. _...right...my bow and arrows are nearby!!_ she realized and quietly made her way to the wall where her weapon was hanging.

Inuyasha noticed this and prayed that Musou didn't. But unfortunately he had already seen Kagome moving through the room. 

Inuyasha widened his eyes as he saw Musou reach for something in his haori with his free hand. He quickly turned to Kagome. "Kagome! Watch out!!"

Kagome heard the warning and quickly ran to her weapon, but Musou had already pulled out some strange weapon that was unknown to Inuyasha. _Chikusho!! She's not going to make it!!_

Just when Kagome had retrieved her bow and an arrow, a deafening sound echoed through the room.

  
*PANG*

  
When she didn't feel anything, Kagome widened her eyes. _Inuyasha!_ she realized and quickly turned around, only to find herself facing a red haori.

"Inuyasha!!" she cried out worriedly.

"D-don't worry about me...just kill him..." Inuyasha groaned.

Kagome nodded determinedly and drew the arrow on her bow.

"NOW!!!" Inuyasha shouted as he jumped away.

Within seconds, Kagome had locked on her target and immediately released her arrow.

  
*SSWWIIFFF*

  
Musou stared at Kagome with wide eyes before he slowly looked down at the long thin object that was half-buried in his chest. Then he looked at Inuyasha and Kagome again and smirked. "Your grieve of the death of your husband will be my trophy of revenge."   
With that, Musou collapsed to the floor and breathed his last breath of life.

Inuyasha widened his eyes and turned to Kagome.

He was just about to ask the truth but he didn't as he saw tears rolling down her cheeks.

A moment of silence broke through until Inuyasha decided to speak again. "We should leave here at once or we might be caught by Naraku's minions." he suggested, knowing that they should worry about their safety first.

Kagome snapped out of her thoughts and dried her tears with the back of her hand. "You're right..." she agreed as she planned to gather their things.

"Arck...!!" Inuyasha suddenly cried and collapsed to his knees.

Kagome jerked her head to Inuyasha and let go of her bow to steady him. "You were wounded...!! Are you okay?!" she asked worriedly.

"Feh!" Inuyasha spat. "Such a wound won't kill me!" 

He got to his feet again with the help of Kagome. "Let's get out of here." he said as he made his way to the hallway.

Kagome nodded and followed him. _Is he really okay...? What kind of weapon was that anyway...?_ she wondered as she noticed the small hole in Inuyasha's fire rat's fur near his shoulder on his back.

  
They exited the house quietly and made their way to the nearest city wall. 

"Hold onto me Kagome, we'll jump out of this dreadful place." Inuyasha said.

Kagome nodded in reply and wrapped her arms around Inuyasha's neck. Inuyasha responded by gently lifting her in his arms bridal style.

"Ready?" 

"Yeah..."

Then Inuyasha jumped over the city wall into the forest with Kagome in his arms. And they walked deeper into the forest together in the middle of the night...

* * *

**Vocabulary:**  
**Teme:** A very rude way to say 'you'. Not to be used in normal conversations. Basically it means "you F---".

Posted: 29 September 2003  
Last Edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tag problems)  
Spelling check: YES 


	17. Survival

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients into a new story.

_Italic_: thoughts   
-- --: locations   
"...": spoken words   
~*~*~*~*~: time gap   
*...* : noises

* * *

  


**AN ELVES' CHILD**

-by Kittymui-

  
**Survival**

**Previously:  
**"Hold onto me Kagome, we'll jump out of this dreadful place." Inuyasha said.   
Kagome nodded in reply and wrapped her arms around Inuyasha's neck.   
Inuyasha responded by gently lifting her in his arms bridal style.   
"Ready?"   
"Yeah..."   
Then Inuyasha jumped over the city wall into the forest with Kagome in his arms. And they walked deeper into the forest together in the middle of the night...

~*~ Several hours later ~*~

  
Kagome and Inuyasha were walking in the forest. They didn't know exactly where they were heading but they knew they had to get away as far as possible. 

As they continued to walk next to each other, Kagome noticed the increasing sweatdrops on Inuyasha's forehead. _It's winter and we aren't exactly exerting ourselves...then why..._

She stopped walking as realization struck her.

"Matte Inuyasha." she halted him.

Inuyasha stopped walking and turned around to face Kagome.

Kagome gasped. She didn't notice it before but now that he was facing her, she saw his pale skin color and his eyes that were losing concentration.

"What's wrong?" Inuyasha asked with a pant.

"Why...why are you pushing yourself this much!?!" Kagome asked with a trembling voice.

Inuyasha's expression became annoyed. "Damn it Kagome, don't argue with me! There's no time for that!" He wanted to growl but ended up panting the last sentence.

Kagome wanted to argue with him but stopped when she watched him collapse to the grass. "Oh my god!! Inuyasha!! Are you okay!? Say something!!" she cried out worriedly as she knelt down beside Inuyasha, who was now lying flat on his stomach.

"Talk to me Inuyasha!! Please!! Don't fall asleep!!"

"S-shoul..." he groaned faintly with his eyes closed.

"What did you just say??" Kagome asked as she lowered her ear to his face. 

"B-burning...s-shoulder..." Inuyasha managed to whisper before he lost consciousness.

"No!! Inuyasha!! Stay with me!!" Kagome cried.

_Calm down Kagome! Panicking only makes the situation worse!!_ her conscience reminded her.

"Okay...calm down..." Kagome said to herself. "We'll need shelter first before I examine his wound...but where..."

"Where can I find a safe place?"

_I'll just have to follow my instincts on this..._ Kagome decided after thinking a moment. 

Kagome flung Inuyasha's arm over her shoulder and pulled him up using all her strength. _Okay, here we go..._ she thought as she successfully steadied his limp body against hers.

Just when she was about to walk, soft whispers echoed through the rustling leaves of surrounding trees.

"It's him...he's hurt..." the whispers repeated several times.

Kagome perked her head up.

"Fire...firestone...kowai..." 

"Who's there?!" Kagome asked cautiously as she looked around above her. "What do you want?!"

"Have to take it out...firestone...or else he'll die..." they continued, ignoring Kagome's presence.

Then the leaves stopped rustling and everything became silent.

_What the hell was that?!_ Kagome thought puzzled but shook her head. _ No time for this...Inuyasha needs to lie down_. she said to herself inwardly and started to walk into a direction.

~*~ Later ~*~

  
About an hour later, Kagome finally reached a cave.

It was not a very big or deep cave, but it was enough to provide protection against the harsh weather.

Kagome gently and carefully laid Inuyasha on the floor and panted heavily of having to carry him for an hour. It was a tough job for a pregnant girl to carry an unconscious youkai. She looked down at Inuyasha's figure that was half lit up by the moonlight. _Good, he's still breathing..._ she thought relieved as she heard Inuyasha's heavy pants echoed through the cave.

Kagome stood up again after resting a while. _We need fire to warm up the cave._ she concluded and left the cave to search for dry wood.

It didn't take long for her to return with an armful of dry wood and a couple of sharp edged stones.

Within minutes she had made a sharp point on a thin twig with the sharp stones and began to make fire using the most basic method.  
Kagome relaxed when she picked up the smell of burning wood and quickly blew at the origin of the smoke to lure out the fire. She straightened herself up as a medium sized campfire was burning in the center of the cave, wiping the sweatdrops on her forehead.

Kagome turned to Inuyasha, who was lying on the floor next to her kneeled form near the flame and almost gasped. 

She didn't realize it before since it was so dark but the stone floor beneath and around his body was colored red with his blood. _Oh my god! Inuyasha!!_ she cried inwardly.

Kagome gently but quickly lifted Inuyasha's upper body from the cold floor and turned him to his side, so that his wounded shoulder was on the topside. She carefully moved away his clothes around his shoulder and looked at the wound.

It wasn't a very big wound, only a little bit bigger than an average marble. Streams of dried blood ran from the small hole to everywhere around it on Inuyasha's back.  
Kagome was slightly relieved when she saw that he was still breathing. _Calm down and think..._ she said to herself in her mind.  
She realized something as she recalled what she had heard back in the forest a while ago.

"Have to take it out...firestone...or else he'll die..."

Kagome looked around mindlessly until her eyes caught a small sharp edged stone that she had picked up a while ago. Without thinking anything else, she determinedly grabbed the stone. "You can do this..." she said to calm herself as she held the stone in the fire.

  
~*~ Later ~*~

Fortunately the so-called firestone wasn't buried too deep in Inuyasha's shoulder and Kagome managed to remove it without causing too much loss of blood. It even surprised Kagome herself with how she had managed to do this successfully for the first time. She was quite glad that Inuyasha was unconscious during the whole process. 

Kagome had ripped her coat in long thin pieces in order to make some bandages for Inuyasha's wound. She knew it wasn't wise since it was winter, but she couldn't bear to see her only family die of infection.

Exhausted as she was; Kagome immediately fell asleep as soon as she settled herself against the nearby wall near Inuyasha.

  
~*~ Dawn ~*~

  
Kagome woke up when the first rays of sunlight shone on her face.   
It was quiet inside the cave and a thin line of smoke flowed diagonally from the ashes at the center.

Kagome quickly opened her eyes and looked around. She stopped when her eyes caught Inuyasha's figure lying on the floor and relaxed as she saw his shoulder rise and fall.  
She narrowed her eyes after watching him a while. _Something's wrong..._ she thought suspiciously and moved closer to Inuyasha.

Kagome looked more carefully at him and widened her eyes as she saw Inuyasha shiver. _H-he's trembling!!_ she realized and quickly put her hand on his forehead. She withdrew her hand as soon as she touched it; as if she had touched a needle.

_He's burning with fever!!_ she thought shocked.   
"Baka!! You shouldn't have pushed yourself this much!!" she cried out of frustration but dropped her face as she recalled it was herself whom he had risked his life for.

Without saying or thinking anything else, Kagome moved Inuyasha to a wall and put the remaining of her coat under his head to function as a pillow. She walked back to the center of the cave again and began to start make a new campfire.  
As soon as the fire was burning, Kagome got back to her feet again and walked to the entrance of the cave.

Before she walked out of it, Kagome looked over her shoulder to Inuyasha. _ I won't let you die too...because of me..._ she thought determined and left the cave.

It was time to pick up her old methods of survival again...

Kagome successfully made herself a sturdy bow and several arrows and a short stone knife for close battles.

She didn't know why but Kagome felt a nostalgic excitement than fear as she entered the forest with her equipments. It was as if she was back to where it all started. Having this thought, she couldn't help but feel a heart throbbing sadness in her heart.

  
~*~*~*~*~

  
Kagome returned to the cave after a couple of hours. She had a proud and satisfied look on her face as she entered the cave.  
Her face and white dress was extremely dirty. The long white dress that covered her feet was now ripped to her knees and her knees were now full of scratches but she didn't care. She had managed to kill a wild boar and several wild rabbits during her hunt. On her back, she was carrying a small bag, woven with blades of grass. She had found disinfecting herbs on her way back and other plants of which her instincts told her that they would help Inuyasha with recovering.  
Kagome had also found a small creek nearby and she had taken some water with her using a shoot made of strong big leaves.

She knelt down next to Inuyasha and moved some strands out of his face.

Inuyasha was breathing heavily and sweatdrops could be seen on his forehead.

"Don't worry Inuyasha, I will make sure that both of us survive through this." she whispered and turned to the fire that was still burning.   
She sat down on the floor and began to untie the trophies of her hunt.

  
~*~*~*~*~

By nightfall, Kagome had successfully removed the fur from the boar and the rabbits. As they were drying near the fire, Kagome cleaned up Inuyasha's wound with water and bandaged it again with the remaining of her coat together with the herbs that she gathered.

Inuyasha was now lying on the floor with his head and shoulders on Kagome's lap. A thick brown blanket made of the fur of the boar and rabbits together was covering his body from chest to toe.  
As for Kagome, although she was only wearing her dirty white dress to her knees, she wasn't cold at all, surprisingly enough.

"You must be protecting me from the cold weather, aren't you?" Kagome smiled as she stroked her belly. She turned slightly to the fire and picked up a wooden bowl filled with warm liquid in it.

Kagome knew that Inuyasha wasn't in the condition to eat something as hard as meat, but she also knew that he needed the nutrients to recover from the fever as well as the huge amount of blood loss. So she mixed the juice of the meat with the juice of the herbs that she gathered into a broth and warmed it up with the fire.

_This should contain enough nutrients._ Kagome thought as she looked down at Inuyasha. _But how can I make sure that he swallows this without spoiling a single drop?_ she pondered as she knew how valuable the broth was.

Instinctively, Kagome took a sip of the broth, put the bowl on the floor and lowered herself to Inuyasha's face. But Kagome snapped out of it and stopped when her mouth was just about an inch above Inuyasha's. She widened her eyes as she realized what she was about to do. _What the hell am I doing?!_ she thought shocked but her thoughts were cut off when she heard the heavy pants coming from Inuyasha.   
Her eyes softened as she saw the sweatdrops that formed on his forehead. _Inuyasha...I...I..._  
She shook her head slightly. _Saving him is the most important thing right now...I'm sure he would also have agreed with that if he was here..._ she concluded sadly and lowered herself to Inuyasha's face once again.

This time, she didn't stop halfway and gently lifted Inuyasha's head up until their lips met. After she made sure that their lips were connected correctly, she carefully parted his lips with hers to let a small portion of the broth slip through her mouth to his.

With her free hand, she touched his throat to make sure he had swallowed the portion before she gave him the next one. _Come on Inuyasha...please swallow..._ she begged inwardly.

She was relieved to feel Inuyasha's throat move after a short moment.

After her mouth got emptied completely, Kagome took another sip of the broth and continued to feed Inuyasha in small portions until he was given every single drop of it.

  
Kagome wiped her mouth and Inuyasha's after the bowl was empty and moved herself closer against the wall to lean against it. She did it carefully so that Inuyasha would hardly feel the movements.   
After she settled herself comfortably against the wall, she looked down at Inuyasha's sleeping face that was lit up by the calm fire.

Suddenly she saw a drop of water land on his cheek. _ Rain...?_ she thought surprised and looked around.  
But then she raised her hand to her cheek and realized it wasn't a raindrop...it was a tear...her tear...

More tears welled up in her eyes. The longer she looked at Inuyasha, the more he reminded her of him.

Kagome dropped her face and stroked her belly. 

"Sesshoumaru..." Kagome whispered his name softly as the tears started to flow down her cheeks. "I miss you...so...much..." 

And sleep claimed her. 

* * *

**Vocabulary:**  
**Matte: **Wait!  
**Kowai:** Scary  
**Baka:** Idiot

Posted: 4 October 2003  
Last Edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tag problems)  
Spelling check: YES


	18. Some time ago

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients into a new story.

_Italic_: thoughts   
-- --: locations   
"...": spoken words   
~*~*~*~*~: time gap   
*...* : noises

* * *

  


**AN ELVES' CHILD**

-by Kittymui-

  
**Some time ago...**

-- Somewhere far away, deep in a forest --

  
It was evening and the sun had already set. The lonely moon, which was not perfectly full, was adding a bright pale hue to the dark forest from above.

A lonely castle stood in the middle of the forest; its protective stone walls rising up above the trees.   
Sesshoumaru was standing on one of the high walls and staring at the silent landscape. 

"Something is not right..." he mumbled as he continued to scan the landscape in front of him.

Soft breezes lifted his long silver hair as Kouga walked out from one of the towers to his side.

"What's wrong?" he asked, noticing Sesshoumaru's troubled expression.

Sesshoumaru turned to Kouga. "Kouga...how long has it been since our successful takeover of this stronghold?" he inquired.

Kouga thought for a while before he replied. "About 3 months now."

Sesshoumaru frowned at the answer and turned to the forest again. "The mission said to defend the stronghold until the Imperial Army arrives, but it is taking too long..." he said with a serious tone.

"Do you think..." Kouga asked but not finishing his sentence since he wasn't too sure about it. But Sesshoumaru knew what he was about to say and cut him off.

"There are two possibilities. One is that the Imperial Army is delayed by something and the other..." he took a short pause. "...is that we have completely fallen into a trap..."

Kouga widened his eyes. "A trap?! B-but why...why would they trick us?" he asked bewildered.

"Because we are youkai...and quite powerful ones, at least that's what I believe to be the reason." Sesshoumaru replied.

"W-what do we do now?"

"Either way, it would not be safe if we stayed here any longer. Get Kyoukotsu and Renkotsu to prepare themselves for departure and warn the rest about this." he ordered.

Kouga nodded and went into the tower again.

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes. _ What the hell are you scheming...Naraku..._

  
~*~*~*~

  
Kyoukotsu, Renkotsu and Kouga were prepared and standing at the huge gate of the castle.

"Where is the rest?" Sesshoumaru inquired as he walked to his companions.

"They didn't believe us about this mission being a trap and they decided to stay." Renkotsu replied, slightly disappointed.

Sesshoumaru frowned. "Orokamono..." he growled. "I, Sesshoumaru, will not wait for my death here. Let us leave before anything bad happens." With that, Sesshoumaru walked past them and out of the gate.  
The rest followed him without questioning him; they trusted their leader's intuition, since it had never been wrong.

  
~*~ *~*~*~

  
Sesshoumaru and the rest were walking in the forest until Sesshoumaru suddenly froze.

"What's wrong?" Kyoukotsu asked cautiously.

"Someone is here..." he replied as he grabbed the hilt of his Toukijin.

"S-Sesshoumaru..." a hoarse voice sounded from the bushes.

Everyone tensed at the voice and turned to where it came from, only to see a figure coming out of the bushes and collapse to the grass.

"Kouga." Sesshoumaru called his companion's name.

Kouga nodded and approached the collapsed figure. 

  
He quickly turned to Sesshoumaru. "Sesshoumaru-sama, it's Tigre, the leader of the other mercenary group!!" he said shocked.

Sesshoumaru approached the tiger youkai and scanned his body. His armor was broken and several gashed could be seen on his arms and legs. 

"You are wounded. What happened?" he asked with a calm voice.

Kouga helped Tigre to a sitting position and supported his back with his knee. He took a shoot out of his baggage and let him drank some water.

"Y-you...you were right..." he groaned after resting a short moment. "...i-it was a trap..."

Sesshoumaru's ears twitched slightly.

"We were unprepared...the most of us were asleep." he continued. "The bastards caught us completely off guard." He slammed his fist on the floor. "Chikusho!! T-they framed us...!! How dare they!!" he cursed.

Sesshoumaru and the rest moved closer to listen.

"Please explain." Sesshoumaru inquired.

Tigre closed his eyes to recall what had happened 2 hours ago. 

"It was a massacre...I overheard the officers while I was hidden under several corpses."

[FLASHBACK]

  
The scent of blood filled the air as silent breezes entered the courtyard. Lots of dead bodies were lying on the floor. Corpses of human as well as youkai filled the courtyard, not leaving a single spot uncovered.

An officer appeared from the gates with a shorter one walking next to him. The officer had short brown curly hair and was dressed in a dark blue formal suit with golden buttons. A long black cape was attached to both his shoulders and it danced in the soft breezes.

He had a calm look on his face while the other one next to him was pale at the sight of the bloody scene. The shorter one was dressed in the same kind of clothes, only dark green instead of dark blue.

A soldier appeared from behind them and knelt down. 

"What's the situation?" the taller officer inquired.

"Sir, according to our men, no youkai survived the surprise attack." the soldier reported. "However..."

The officer turned around to face the soldier. "What?"

"There seem to be some youkai missing, sir!"

The officer frowned. "That will not be our concern. You're dismissed." he ordered nonchalantly.

"Hai!" With that the soldier left the two officers behind again.

  
"Euhm...sir?" the shorter officer suddenly began.

The taller one was still gazing at where the soldier disappeared to. "What?"

"H-how are we supposed to report about this mess? I mean...wasn't the Imperial Army supposed to assist the mercenaries by taking over the stronghold for them? W-why were we sent to do it?" the officer gulped. "Why did the mission change from assist to..."

His voice gradually faltered as the taller officer turned to him with a strict expression. 

"I'm only explaining this once and only to you so I trust you that there will be no other knowing about this." he finally spoke after a short moment of silence.

The shorter officer nodded and listened carefully.

"First of all, this will not be reported as a sudden attack but as an act out of defense." he explained calmly. "We'll say that the youkai didn't want to hand over the stronghold and launched an attack first. So this massacre..." he snickered. "...is the result of the counterattack."

"And secondly, you're right about us doing the job instead of the Imperial Army. They gave us the mission because the Army was needed elsewhere. This mission was originally planned to gather and eliminate mercenaries who would become possible threats because of their increasing popularity and wealth." he continued as his lips curled up into a grin. "I guess they don't need and army as powerful as the Imperial one to do this job."

"Ah...now I understand sir." the shorter officer nodded. "Don't worry sir, there will be no third person to know about this."

  
[END FLASHBACK]

  
Sesshoumaru frowned at hearing Tigre's story. _Those bastards...treating us like dirt huh? Use us and get rid of us when they realize our power... _ he growled inwardly. He silently thought for a moment. _The Imperial Army was needed elsewhere? What could be more important than eliminating a possible threat to the kingdom?_ he mused.

"Where was the Imperial Army needed?" he asked the wounded Tigre after a moment of silence.

"I faintly heard them mention a raid planned by an army of the East." he replied with a cough.

"Doko?" Sesshoumaru asked.

"I don't remember the name anymore but I recall it was one of the most wealthiest city in the Western Lands."

Sesshoumaru widened his eyes.

Renkotsu, Kyoukotsu and Kouga immediately turned to their leader. 

"Sesshoumaru-sama, you don't think it's__" Kouga began.

"I'm afraid there is no other city in this part of the Western Lands." Renkotsu cut him off.

"You'll have to hurry if someone dear to you lives there. The raid would probably be held in one of these days..." Tigre suddenly spoke.

"What about you?" Kyoukotsu asked worriedly.

"I'll be fine, I won't be killed by a couple of scratches." he replied reassuringly. "Now go, don't worry about me."

Sesshoumaru nodded. "Take care my friend. Till we meet again." he said before he stood up. 

"Let us go." Sesshoumaru ordered with a calm voice before he dashed into the direction of Mayr, and the rest followed.

_Damn it! Kagome...please be okay..._ he thought worriedly as he increased his speed.

_I should not worry too much...Inuyasha is with her...but...why am I having this uneasy feeling?_ he wondered slightly disturbed.

  
[AN: In case you are frustrated about the timelines, this happened in the month when Kagome was all alone in Mayr. Here is a little help:

Sess's depart ----5 months----victory------3 months------Chp.18---...(Sesshoumaru)  
.....................---------- 6 months ----------Inu's depart-----1 month-----Chp.15+16-Chp.17---...(Kagome)

I hope it's not too complicated ^-^.]

* * *

**Vocabulary:**  
**Orokamono:** Fool(s)  
**Toukijin** is Sesshoumaru's sword  
**Chikusho:** Damn/Shit  
**Doko?:** Where?

Posted: 7 October 2003  
Last Edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tag problems)  
Spelling check: YES 


	19. Back to the present

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients into a new story.

Since a couple of readers didn't understand the timelines, I have written another explanation below:  
  
Sess's depart ----5 months----victory------3 months------Chp.18----1 month----Chapter 19  
.....................---------- 6 months ----------Inu's depart-----1 month-----Chp.15-17

Both timelines is supposed to one timeline. I have made two timelines because Sesshoumaru and Kagome aren't having the same experiences together at the same time. So the upper one is the timeline as Sesshoumaru had experienced and the lower as Kagome had experienced it.

First there was Sesshoumaru's departure. 2 months later Kagome and Inuyasha went to Naraku's mansion to ask for the first halve of the reward. At the same time, Sesshoumaru and the rest had already arrived at Valkyrie's stronghold but they were staying put and preparing themselves for battle, which took them 3 months altogether.

After their victorious take over of the stronghold, Sesshoumaru and the rest defended the stronghold for another 3 long months, waiting for the Imperial Army to arrive. In the meantime Kagome received the threatening letter about the recruit and Inuyasha and his friends had to leave. And Kagome was left alone for a whole month. The massacre at Valkyrie's stronghold happened around the end of that month (Chapter 18). While Sesshoumaru was heading back to Mayr, Kagome received the message about Sesshoumaru being killed during his mission (Chapter 15) and was attacked by Musou on the same day. Inuyasha saved her from the attack and escaped to the forest together with Kagome (Chapter 16). Kagome took Inuyasha to a cave to tend his wound and lived there for the following days to wait for his recovery (Chapter 17).

So basically, the previous chapter was like a huge flashback with Sesshoumaru as the main character.  
And now...we're "**Back to the present...**" (title of this 19th chapter) and Sesshoumaru finally arrives in Mayr...

_Italic_: thoughts   
-- --: locations   
"...": spoken words   
~*~*~*~*~: time gap   
*...* : noises

* * *

  


**AN ELVES' CHILD**

-by Kittymui-

  
**Back to the present...**

**Previously:  
**"Let us go." Sesshoumaru ordered with a calm voice before he dashed into the direction of Mayr, and the rest followed. _Damn it! Kagome...please be okay..._ he thought worriedly as he increased his speed. _I should not worry too much...Inuyasha is with her...but...why am I having this uneasy feeling?_ he wondered slightly disturbed.

  
~*~*~

  
There were lots of obstacles on the way back; they had to cross a march and they bumped onto groups of vicious youkai several times. Even with Sesshoumaru and his companions' speed, it still took them almost a month to reach Mayr.

Compared to the time that took them to reach the Valkyrie stronghold from Mayr, they had already cut the time by halve.

-- Back in Mayr --

Sesshoumaru was both relieved and alerted when he arrived in Mayr. 

Relieved when he found the city unharmed but alerted because Kagome's scent was nowhere to be found; together with Inuyasha and his friends' scents.

_They have left Mayr!?_ Sesshoumaru thought shocked but quickly shook his head. _They must have rented a house somewhere..._

"What do we do now?" Kouga asked.

"Spread out and ask the whereabouts of Kagome and the rest. They must have rented a house somewhere." Sesshoumaru replied calmly. "And gather at the marketplace after an hour."

His three companions nodded and the four of them spread out to inquire about Kagome and the rest.

~*~ About an hour later ~*~

Sesshoumaru wandered around the marketplace and was deep in thought.

He snapped out of it when his eyes caught a particular row house. Sesshoumaru didn't know why, but his instincts told him to go to that house and check it out.

He followed his instincts and walked towards the front door.

  
*KNOCK KNOCK*

  
Sesshoumaru was disappointed as soon as the door opened. It was a short and wrinkled man with a bent back who opened the door. 

"Yeah? What do YOU want?" the man asked with an annoyed voice.

"Do you know a certain raven black haired girl who lived here together with three youkai?" Sesshoumaru asked plainly.

"No! Nobody lived here before I moved in, now go away!" the man shrieked and slammed the door shut.

Sesshoumaru let out a low growl and turned around to leave.

Before he left he took a look through the window of the house and mindlessly scanned through the living room. _ I wonder what made me come to this house...?_ he thought puzzled as he turned away from the window.

Suddenly something struck him and he quickly turned to the window again.

His eyes widened when they fell on a certain object on the wall and leaned closer to look carefully.

The rage within him increased as he realized what it was.

  
_K-Kagome's bow and quiver!!!!_

He calmly walked back to the door.

  
*KNOCK KNOCK*

  
"Go away!!!" the man's voice sounded from inside.

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes and flexed his claws.

  
*CRACCKKKK*

  
The door was ripped apart in a split second and Sesshoumaru entered the house. 

The man appeared in the hallway. "What the hell do you think you're__AARGG!!" Before he could finish, Sesshoumaru had already grabbed his throat.

Without saying anything else, he walked into the living room and approached the weapons on the wall, dragging the old man with him.

Sesshoumaru gently took the bow from the wall and sniffed it. _There's no denying it...this is truly the bow that I gave Kagome...her faint scent is still lingering on it._ he concluded.

Then he realized something as he looked up to the quiver with arrows on the wall. _Wait a minute...an arrow is missing...? Was there a fight before she left?_ he wondered worriedly.

He turned to the struggling man in his grip. "Where did you get this?" he asked.

"I-I found i-it..." the man replied with a trembling voice.

Sesshoumaru tightened his grip on his throat. "Don't lie to me!!" he roared. "You said nobody lived here before you moved in!!"

"I-I l-lied...I'm s-sorry!!"

"Then tell me the truth...NOW!!!" Sesshoumaru growled as he threw the man to the floor in front of him.

"T-the landlord *cough* knows...ask *cough* him...I-I don't know anything, I swear!! Ask the landlord...he lives on the corner of this row houses." he replied terrified.

Sesshoumaru thought for a moment before he spoke. "I will come back and hunt you down if you lie." he growled.  
Then he turned to the wall and retrieved the quiver with arrows before leaving the house.

~*~*~

-- At the house of the landlord --

"I suggest you tell me the truth or I'll slit your throat with my sword." Sesshoumaru said, pointing the tip of his sword at the middle-aged man who was lying on the floor in the hallway.

"P-please don't kill me!!" the man shrieked. "I...I'll tell you what I know!!" 

Sesshoumaru looked at him expectantly without removing his sword from his throat.

"It w-was indeed a girl with raven black hair and three other youkai who rented the house...a-after six months the three youkai suddenly left. I heard it was because of a recruit or something like that..." the man began.

Sesshoumaru widened his eyes. _Kagome was left alone in the house...!?_   
"Go on." he ordered, pulling himself together.

"A-a month later I saw a maid in front of her door and the girl with raven black hair left the house to follow her. I heard she went to the counselor's mansion... a-and the next day, the girl just disappeared without taking everything with her...that's all..." the man finished.

"That's all...?" Sesshoumaru asked suspiciously. "You're not telling me everything, human, you better open up or I might lose my patience..." he said as he pushed his sword closer to his neck.

The man winced in response when he felt the cold metal against his bare skin. "Okay okay...I'll talk..." he said hastily. "T-there was a dead body...when I inspected her house after her disappearance...it was disgusting..."

_A dead body!?_ Sesshoumaru thought shocked but his attention was drawn again as the man continued to complain.

"Damn woman...must be her work...doesn't she know how difficult it is to clean up all the blood?!? It took me hours to__"

"SILENCE!!" Sesshoumaru roared, causing the man to shut up and widen his eyes of shock.

"What was the identity of the corpse?" he asked with a low growl.

"I-it was a young man...with black hair. An arrow was buried into his chest when I found him." he answered obediently.

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes and clenched his claws. _Must be Musou..._

"But it was strange..." the man mindlessly continued. "There was small trail of blood on the wooden floor of the living room and it couldn't have been the blood of the young man..."

"What did you do with the body?" Sesshoumaru inquired, slightly disturbed by what the man said but he thought it was too soon to conclude anything yet.

"I buried it in the middle of the night after I cleaned up the whole house. I still want to rent out the house you know. If someone found out about the murder in one of my houses, nobody would ever want to live in it again...not to mention the annoying authorities and gossips__"

"What about the weapons?" Sesshoumaru cut him off.

"You're holding them, sir...that's the only one I found..."

"Do NOT play dumb in front of me! I doubt that my mate would suddenly kill a weaponless young man like that!!!" he growled furiously.

"WAAH!!" the man cried. "Please forgive me...I-I have hung them... on my w-wall...as d-decorations..."

"Show them to me!" Sesshoumaru ordered as he motioned the man with his sword to stand up.

The man obeyed and led Sesshoumaru to his living room.

"This is all of them..." he said as he stopped in front of a wall.

Sesshoumaru looked up to the wall and scanned it from left to right.

_Kagome's arrow...a long thin blade...and___ His eyes widened when they fell on the small gold coated weapon._ This is...!!!_

He carefully took the weapon from the wall and examined it.

"It's a gun..." the man suddenly spoke. "I heard that only the people of the Southern Lands make them. Very powerful...but not efficient for war..."

Sesshoumaru looked up from the gun to the man with a puzzled expression.

"You see... this weapon can only fire once." he explained. "And this one has already been used once."

Sesshoumaru looked back at the gun.

He had heard of these things before. It can instantly kill a person with this tiny iron marble-shaped thing called 'bullet'. 

Sesshoumaru suddenly felt shivers down to his spine when he remembered what the landlord said before. 

  
"There was also another pool of blood on the wooden floor and it couldn't have been the blood of the young man..."

  
He shook off the scary thought and turned to the man again. "When did it happen?"

"About one week ago, sir." the man replied.

Sesshoumaru frowned. "You have not seen me today and I will not tell anybody about the murder in one of your houses, is that a deal?" he offered, while cursing himself for making one with a human.

The man nodded.

"Good." Sesshoumaru said and turned to the wall again. 

He put the gun back on the wall and took Kagome's arrow.

After he put the arrow back into the quiver, where it belonged, Sesshoumaru left the house of the landlord without saying anything else. 

To his surprise, Kouga, Kyoukotsu and Renkotsu were already standing outside and waiting for him. They had sensed their leader's presence in the house and decided to wait outside for him.

"And?" Renkotsu asked when he saw Sesshoumaru coming out of the house.

Kouga looked down at the objects that their leader was holding and widened his eyes. "You found out something about Kagome-sama?" he asked hopefully.

Sesshoumaru's emotionless expression didn't change as he walked past his companions.

"Let us go...I will fill you guys in while walking." he ordered with a calm voice.

"Where to?" Kyoukotsu asked surprised.

"To Naraku." Sesshoumaru replied with a growl.

~*~*~

-- Meanwhile, somewhere in a cave deep in the forest --

Kagome was cleaning the face of Inuyasha with a wet cloth.

_It's already been a week since the incident...the fever has died down...but why isn't he regaining consciousness?_ Kagome thought sadly.

Kagome was wearing a thick brown coat made of rabbits' fur and her hair was tied into a loose braid. She had not cut her hair since Sesshoumaru's departure and it was already reaching the lower part of her back.   
Inuyasha's clothes didn't change. A thick brown blanket made of the wild boar's fur covered his body to keep him warm.

_He isn't suffering any infections...maybe he just lost too much blood...but I can't save him with that...I-I'm not related...to him..._ Kagome started to sob. _ ...h-he is..._

_Chikusho!_ she cursed inwardly. _ ...am I going to watch someone dear to me die...? I feel so powerless...I___   
Her thoughts were cut off when she heard someone moan.

When she looked down at Inuyasha, she realized that the moaning came from him.

  
"K...Kagome..."

  
"Inuyasha...???" Kagome called out his name; her voice filled with hope.

"D-don't...cry..." he whispered weakly with his eyes still closed.

Tears welled up in Kagome's eyes. "Inuyasha!!!! You woke up!!! You have finally woken up!!!" she cried out as she let herself fall onto his chest. "I was so scared...really scared that you might...die...!!!"

Inuyasha slowly opened his eyes, only to find himself looking into two teary navy blue eyes filled with worry and relief.

"Shinpai k-kakete...g-gomen ne..." he managed to say with his hoarse voice. 

He wanted to dry her tears with his hand but he didn't have the strength after being unconscious for a whole week.

Kagome pulled herself up in a sitting position and dried her tears with the back of her hands. "D-don't apologize...baka...you were wounded because of me." she sniffled.

"Kagome..." he called her name and lifted his trembling hand a little, using all his strength.

Kagome quickly grasped it before it fell on the cold floor again. "What is it?"

"...I...I know I shouldn't be saying this...b-but I want to take care of you Kagome...in my brother's place..."

Kagome widened her eyes. "I-Inuyasha...! I...I..."

"I know..." Inuyasha cut her off. "I'm not asking you to be unfaithful to my brother...I just don't want you to think that you're all alone with Yuri...I want you to know...that I'll always be here to protect you and Yuri...in my brother's place." 

Kagome lifted his hand to her face and leaned her cheek onto the back of his hand.

"Arigatou..." she whispered with a sad smile.

-- Back to Sesshoumaru --

"You WHAT!!!???!!?!" Sesshoumaru's voice echoed through the counselor's mansion.

"Calm down Sesshoumaru." Naraku said.

"My mate thinks I'm dead and is missing at the moment and it is ALL because of YOU!!!" he growled. "And you're telling me to calm down!!?!!"

"Well, the report said that there weren't any survivors, so all I did was telling her what I knew." Naraku explained.

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes and tried to calm himself. _I cannot let him know what I already know...not until I have found Kagome._ he convinced himself inwardly.

"I must say that she surprised me for not collapsing to the floor after she heard about your death." Naraku thought aloud. 

Sesshoumaru's ears twitched.

"Not very smart of her to leave Mayr in her condition...being pregnant and all." he continued with an amused voice. "I surely don't hope she's__"  
Before Naraku could finish; Sesshoumaru had already shut him up by pointing his sword at his throat.

Sesshoumaru's eyes flashed red for a moment before he spoke. "You better pray that my mate is unharmed or I, Sesshoumaru, will hunt you down until one of us is dead!!" he growled.

With that he sheathed his sword and left the office, leaving an extremely annoyed and shocked Naraku behind.

~*~ Later ~*~

  
"He WHAAT!?!?! That bastard!!" Renkotsu growled after listening to Sesshoumaru's explanation.

"Calm down Renkotsu, being angry at Naraku won't help a thing right now." Kyoukotsu said.

"Yeah, finding Kagome-sama is the most important thing to do right now." Kouga added.

"But where do we look?" Renkotsu asked.

All three youkai dropped their gazes to the floor.

  
"The forest." Sesshoumaru suddenly spoke. _That is where you always would go, right Kagome?_ he thought.

"But__" Renkotsu was halted when Kouga put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.

Sesshoumaru knew what Renkotsu wanted to say and sighed. "I know it would be like finding a needle in a haystack...I know that we might not..." Without finishing his sentence, he turned to his companions. "But I do not care...if I need to search through all the forests of the Western Lands to find her then so be it. " he stated determinedly.

Renkotsu, Kyoukotsu and Kouga nodded in agreement. "We'll always assist you with whatever you decide, Sesshoumaru-sama. We're sorry to have lost hope in finding Kagome-sama a while ago." Kouga apologized.

"Then let us go." Sesshoumaru ordered and walked into the direction of the city gate with the rest following him.

Sesshoumaru stuck his hand in his sleeve and held the lock of Kagome's hair in his hand. 

_Mother...if Kagome and our child is still alive...then I beg of you...please guide me to her..._ he prayed inwardly.

* * *

**Vocabulary:**  
**Shinpai kakete gomen ne: **Sorry I worried you

Posted: 12 October 2003  
Last Edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tag problems)  
Spelling check: YES 


	20. A new life

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients into a new story.

_Italic_: thoughts   
-- --: locations   
"...": spoken words   
~*~*~*~*~: time gap   
*...* : noises  
  


* * *

  


**AN ELVES' CHILD**

-by Kittymui-

  
**A new life**

**  
Previously:**  
"Then let us go." Sesshoumaru ordered and walked into the direction of the city gate with the rest following him.   
Sesshoumaru stuck his hand in his sleeve and held the lock of Kagome's hair in his hand.  
_Mother...if Kagome and our child is still alive...then I beg of you...please guide me to her..._ he prayed inwardly.

~*~

  
It's evening and the moon hung lonely in the dark sky, granting the forest a bright pale color.

Sesshoumaru and the rest were walking in the forest. A thick fog hung in the air as they continued their search.

"Damn it! What's with this thick fog!?" Kyoukotsu cursed.

"Yeah! I can't smell a thing in the condition." Kouga added and turned to Sesshoumaru. He wanted to ask if he could smell anything through the fog but didn't when he saw the disturbed expression on his leader's face.

Sesshoumaru was deep in thought as he continued to walk in the fog. _This is bad...the fog is masking every single scent of the forest._ he thought worriedly. _How am I supposed to find her...if I can't even see further than 5 meters??_

  
~*~

  
_It's winter...I wonder if she's wearing enough clothes against the cold temperature..._

The longer Sesshoumaru thought about it, the more worries came into his mind.

_Kagome...where could you be...?_

Sesshoumaru was so deep in thought that he didn't notice a figure in front of him and slightly bumped onto the person.

"Watch where you're going!!!! Now you've made me lose my prey!!" the person snarled angrily with a hoarse voice.

Sesshoumaru took several steps backward. "I-I'm sorry." he apologized, slightly surprised.

"Damn youkai. Your mindlessness cost me my dinner..." the person muttered brutally.

From its voice and features, the person seemed to be a young boy from around the age of 17. But it was too dark and foggy to see more than the curves of the shadow. And with this thick fog masking every single scent and all, it was impossible to smell anything coming from the boy.

Each of the party was standing in the shadowy part of the forest and a small gap of moonlight was dividing them in two. The mysterious boy standing on one side of the gap and Sesshoumaru's party on the other.

Hearing this, Kouga decided to step forward; next to Sesshoumaru. "Hey! What's your problem!! You better watch your behavior in front of us!!" he growled and reached out to grab the boy.

The boy flinched and slapped away Kouga's claw as soon as he saw it in the moonlight. "Keep your claws in your pocket or I'll cut them off for you!!" he yelled.

Sesshoumaru snapped completely out of his thoughts when some light fell on his face for a second.  
He looked around to search the origin of the light and realized it was coming from the boy Kouga was arguing with. 

It was an object on his chest that reflected the moonlight. It looked like a pendant and was probably revealed from behind his clothes when he flinched.

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes and reached out for the pendant.

The boy smacked his hand away and as he did that, the shimmering pendant flew into the air; into the moonlight for a second.

He only caught a glimpse of the whole pendant, but it was long enough for him to realize it was the same necklace and pendant he gave Kagome.

"Don't you dare try to touch me again!!!" 

"Where..." Sesshoumaru began.

"What!!?"

"Where did you get that necklace?"

"It's none of your business you thief!!" the boy spat in reply.

Sesshoumaru frowned at the sudden accusation. "Come into the light, boy." he demanded with a low growl as he began to lose his patience.

No reply.

Then Sesshoumaru decided to step forward; into the moonlight; revealing himself from the shadows of the forest.

"Sesshoumaru-sama!! Don't!!" his companions cried worriedly behind him.

Without saying anything else, Sesshoumaru reached out for the boy. "Come out or I will__" he growled angrily.

Before Sesshoumaru managed to touch the boy, the figure of the boy suddenly collapsed to the mud with his knees.

"Please!! I have never been unfaithful to you...why do you haunt me like this...!!" he shrieked with a high-pitched voice.

Sesshoumaru slowly dropped his hand to his side. _ This voice...!!_ he realized shockingly.

"K...Kagome...?" he softly called out her name.

"No!! Don't...don't do this to me...p-please..." the voice sobbed. "...y-you're dead...why don't you just let me grieve for you...Sesshoumaru..."

Sesshoumaru widened his eyes at hearing his name and knelt down in front of the figure. He realized that her eyes were shut and raised his hand to touch her cheek.

Kagome winced and jerked her head at his touch as if it was an electric shock.

To Sesshoumaru, it was like a thousand knives stabbing his heart when he felt Kagome wince. He tried to cup her cheek again and was relieved that she didn't pull away this time.

"Kagome...please open you eyes and look at me..." he pleaded.

Kagome slowly opened her eyes and found herself looking straight into two beautiful shiny orbs that were lit up by the moonlight.

"I am here, Kagome, I did not die." he reassured her. "I could not possibly touch you like this if I was dead."

Kagome didn't move for a moment, she only stared into Sesshoumaru's eyes.  
Tears started to well up in her eyes as she felt the warmth coming from his hand on her cheek.

Within a split second, Kagome had already crashed onto Sesshoumaru's chest and buried her face in his haori.

"It's you!! It's really you!!!" she cried in his chest.

Sesshoumaru wrapped his arms around her and leaned onto her hair with his cheek. "Shhh...it is okay..." he whispered comfortingly.

Kouga, Kyoukotsu and Renkotsu sighed of relief.

  
~*~

  
Sesshoumaru waited until the sobbing stopped before he pulled away a little.  
"More importantly...are you unharmed?" he asked worriedly.

Kagome slightly nodded but started to sob again. "B-but Inuyasha...he...he protected me...and..."

Sesshoumaru gently dried her tears. "Calm down love...tell me what happened."

Kagome took a short moment to calm down. "...it was Musou...he attacked me and Inuyasha was there...he shielded me...I-I pulled out the firestone but he had lost a lot of blood...he isn't recovering much from the injury." she managed to say through her sobbing.

Sesshoumaru frowned. _She must be talking about removing the bullet..._ "Where have you been hiding until now?" he asked.

"A cave...about 200 meters South from here." she replied calmly.

Sesshoumaru looked over his shoulder to his companions. "Search the forest for food and medicinal herbs and meet us at the cave." he ordered.

Kouga, Renkotsu and Kyoukotsu nodded and spread out to do as they were told.

He turned to Kagome again. "Do not worry, everything will be okay now." he reassured her as he stroked her cheek.

Kagome nodded and suddenly giggled.

Sesshoumaru gave her a puzzled look.

"Even Yuri is happy to see her daddy again." she smiled and looked down at her belly. "She kicked me."

He smiled warmly at Kagome and scooped her up in his arms before he stood up again. 

Kagome naturally leaned her head onto his chest and relaxed as she inhaled his familiar scent.

Without saying anything else, Sesshoumaru walked into the direction of the cave with Kagome in his arms.

  
-- Back to the cave --

  
A dim light lit up the cave as the campfire burned peacefully.

Kouga, Kyoukotsu and Renkotsu weren't there yet when Sesshoumaru and Kagome arrived. 

Sesshoumaru gently set Kagome down on her feet before he walked over to the sleeping Inuyasha.

Kagome watched him as he examined Inuyasha. "How is he? Is he going to be alright?" Kagome whispered.

Sesshoumaru silently stood up and walked over to Kagome. He leaned closer and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. "Don not worry love, he will be okay. He only needs time to recover from the blood-loss. You did a great job in healing him and preventing infections." he smiled.

Kagome smiled weakly before she suddenly lost balance, which completely surprised Sesshoumaru.

"Kagome? Are you alright?" he asked worriedly as he steadied her by grabbing her shoulders.

"I...I don't...oh my God..." she replied with a gasp.

"What is wrong?"

"M-my water broke...I...I'm going to give birth soon..." she said with a trembling voice.

Sesshoumaru widened his eyes but snapped out of it as Kagome suddenly leaned closer and clasped his haori.

"Please...Sesshoumaru...take me to the forest...to the creek...East of here..." she asked weakly.

Sesshoumaru didn't ask anything and carefully lifted her up in his arms and walked out of the cave.

-- By the creek --

"I...I'm scared...Sesshoumaru..." Kagome panted.

Sesshoumaru responded by holding her closer. "I am right here with you..." he whispered in her ear.

Sesshoumaru was leaning against a tree trunk (next to the creek) with his back, with his legs spread and pulled up and Kagome was sitting between his legs; leaning with her back against his chest. His arms were wrapped around her waist and his fingers intertwined with hers as their hands resting on her chest.

Kagome's body tensed. "Kurushii..." she groaned.

Sesshoumaru stroked her hair with his cheek. "I know love...but it will be over soon...keep breathing."

Kagome began to pant more heavily.

*HUFF PUFF PUFF*

Now and then, Kagome would jerk her head backwards and use all her strength to push.

  
~*~ about an hour later ~*~

  
*pant pant wheeze wheeze*

"Come on Kagome! You cannot be that weak!! You are my mate!!" Sesshoumaru growled. "Now use all your strength and push one last time, as hard as you can!"

Kagome immediately jerked her head backwards and tensed her whole body.

Sesshoumaru squeezed her hand firmly to let her know his presence.

  
*whè...èè...whèè*

  
The silent forest was suddenly filled with the cries of the newborn baby.

Kagome completely relaxed after she heard the crying. She tried to straighten herself up and see her child but was halted when strong arms pulled her back.

"Do not move...you have already exerted your body too much." she heard Sesshoumaru whisper in her ear.

Sesshoumaru carefully laid her onto the grass before he stood up and walked over to her legs.

"It is a beautiful daughter Kagome." he smiled at Kagome. "Just like you have predicted.

Kagome returned a weak smile and closed her eyes to rest.

Sesshoumaru removed his armor and started to undress himself until he was only wearing a hakama. (AN: Yup, showing his muscular chest :P~~)

He used his haori to cover Kagome's body and laid his inner shirt on the grass before he carefully picked up his crying daughter.

She stopped crying as soon as Sesshoumaru stood up with her in his arms.

  
Kagome had opened her eyes again when she heard the sound of water. She turned her head to where the sound came from and tears welled up in her eyes at what she saw.

  
Sesshoumaru was standing in the creek with the water touching his elbows. The lower half of his beautiful silver hair was dancing on the calm water surface. The bright moon above lit up the ripples on the water surface and his silver hair; the sight was just too beautiful for words.

Sesshoumaru was holding Yuri with one arm that formed like a cradle and with the other he scooped up small portions of water and pouted it onto Yuri's tiny chest.  
Yuri raised her tiny hand to the sky and tried to catch the small stream of water that her father was pouring onto her. 

A warm smile appeared on Sesshoumaru's face as he watched her daughter wince when several drops of water hit her small cheeks after she successfully caught the water stream.

Sesshoumaru felt Kagome's eyes on him and slowly shifted his gaze to Kagome, who was still lying on the grass.

The golden orbs met the navy blue one. Both filled with joy and happiness...but most of all...love.

  
~*~

  
After washing his daughter, Sesshoumaru walked out of the water towards Kagome. He picked up his inner shirt that was lying on the grass and carefully wrapped it around his daughter.

Sesshoumaru sat down on the grass next to Kagome. He slid his free arms beneath her shoulder and gently lifted her up and pulled her to his chest, while holding his daughter with his other arm. 

He leaned his back onto the tree trunk.

Kagome was now leaning onto his chest with her upper body with his arm resting around her waist.

"Can I...see her?" she asked with a weak voice.

Sesshoumaru handed her the small oval shaped cocoon with his other arm.

She carefully took it and slowly removed a cloth to reveal a sleeping face.

"S-she's so pretty...our little Yuri..." Kagome said with a sob.

Sesshoumaru lowered his face a placed a soft kiss on Kagome's forehead. "Arigatou koishii...you have give us a beautiful child." he whispered proudly.

Kaogme looked up from her daughter to Sesshoumaru and raised her hand to touch his cheek. "With all my love...Sesshoumaru..." she whispered lovingly.

He took her hand in his and leaned closer until his lips were just a hairbreadth away from hers. Their eyes locked on each others.

"I was really scared when I found out that you left Mayr after Naraku told you that I dead." he said. "My instincts told me that you would be in the forest...but I was afraid...afraid that you...that you might__"

"I was scared too..." Kagome cut him off with a trembling voice. "I was completely broken when I heard about your death...but I told myself to be strong...for Yuri's sake...but still...I...I__"

Before she could finish, Sesshoumaru claimed her lips with his.

Kagome didn't pull away; instead she closed her eyes and leaned closer to kiss him fully. _How I have missed his lips...this feeling..._ she thought. _...so safe... _   
She parted her lips and Sesshoumaru didn't hesitate before he entered and savored her fully.

_I missed you so much..._ they thought at the same time.

  
~*~*~ Later ~*~*~

  
Renkotsu, Kouga and Kyoukotsu were sitting in the cave and waiting for Sesshoumaru and Kagome's return. They had just arrived with all the goods that Sesshoumaru had ordered them to gather.

Inuyasha was alerted at first when he awoke and sensed the presence of someone other than Kagome. But relaxed when he found out it was them.

While waiting, they had told Inuyasha about what happened during their mission and Inuyasha had told them the things that happened while they were gone.

Both parties were shocked and surprised after listening to each other's story.

"That Naraku and Musou, I should have guessed they were related since they look so alike! The bastards!!" Kyoukotsu growled angrily.

"Yeah! They really set us up...if Inuyasha hadn't been there...things could have been worse...for Kagome-sama." Renkotsu added as he threw some wood into the fire.

Kouga had helped Inuyasha to a sitting position and was examining his wound. "He's right. If you hadn't protected Kagome-sama...she could have died, together with her baby...thank you Inuyasha."

Inuyasha smirked to hide his embarrassment. "Keh! I just did what I had to do." But inside, he was happy to know that his brother didn't die.  
_I'm so happy for you Kagome..._ he smiled inwardly.

"Right...what happened to Hiten and Bankotsu?" Renkotsu suddenly asked.

"If I'm not mistaking, they should be almost encountering the army of the East by now." Inuyasha explained.

"So the raid wasn't a lie?" Renkotsu asked.

Inuyasha shook his head. "I don't think so. The Imperial Army was indeed traveling together with us when we were heading there."

"But we were told that the raid was going to be held several weeks ago." Kyoukotsu said.

Inuyasha shook his head again. "It's true that the enemy of the East had planned to launch a raid in Mayr but it wasn't going to be one of these weeks. Going to their camp would take the Imperial Army about 2 months, so it would be the same for them, unless they have wings."

"What are you going to do after you healed?" Kouga asked, moving Inuyasha's haori back to its original place on his shoulder.

Inuyasha thought for a while before he replied. "Well...I had planned to__"

"Oh!! They have returned!!" Kyoukotsu suddenly cut him off and stood up.

The rest also stood up except for Inuyasha, who was still sitting next to the fire. All of them looked at the approaching shadow in a distance.

The campfire lighted up the shadow and it was really Sesshoumaru. He was carrying a weak Kagome who was wearing Sesshoumaru's haori.

Sesshoumaru himself was only wearing a hakama (AN: *droooool*). He walked over to Inuyasha and knelt down next to him. "You have protected Kagome well, Inuyasha and this brother of yours is grateful for that." he said with a proud voice as he gently put Kagome on the floor next to Inuyasha.

Inuyasha smiled. "You don't have to be that grateful...I only did what__"

Before he could finish, he was surprised by Kagome who suddenly hugged him with her free arm. "Thank you Inuyasha, thank you so much." she whispered in his ear.

"Wha__" Before Inuyasha could ask, he was stopped by some soft moaning sound coming from below.

Kagome released Inuyasha and pulled back a little to reveal the small cloth that she was holding with her other arm.  
She carefully removed a part of the cloth and looked up at Inuyasha. "Look." she smiled.

Inuyasha looked down and the rest also gathered around Kagome to look at what she was holding.

All of them widened their eyes except for Kagome and Sesshoumaru when they saw the little Yuri, who was waking up.

Inuyasha raised his hand and moved it towards the little one to touch her. He was surprised when a tiny hand grasped his index finger.

"Say hello to uncle Inuyasha, Yuri." Kagome giggled.

Everybody smiled at the sight of Yuri studying Inuyasha's hand.

Inuyasha shifted his gaze from Kagome to Sesshoumaru. "I'm so happy for you both." 

Sesshoumaru put his hand on Inuyasha's shoulder. "We owe it all to you, my brother." he smiled.

  
A moment of silence took place until Kyoukotsu decided to speak. "Okay!! This should be celebrated!!" he cried.

Kouga and Renkotsu stood up. "You're right!! Tonight is a very special night since we have finally found Kagome-sama and Inuyasha again!!" Kouga agreed.

"Plus we have to celebrate the birth of a new life!!" Renkotsu added.

Before Sesshoumaru could say anything, the three already dashed out of the cave to prepare the feast.

He turned to Kagome. "You must be tired. Rest, I will wake you up when they return." he suggested. "Inuyasha can take care of Yuri for you while you are resting."

Kagome turned to Inuyasha, who gave her a nod and carefully took Yuri out of her arms.

After she made sure that Yuri wasn't crying Kagome leaned her head onto Sesshoumaru's chest and closed her eyes.

Sesshoumaru responded by placing his arms around her and pulling her closer.

Inuyasha watched the little Yuri in his arms, who was playing with his silver hair and shifted his gaze to Kagome and Sesshoumaru.

He smiled. _As long as she's happy...I'll be happy too..._ he said to himself as he looked at the serene expression on Kagome's sleeping face.

* * *

**Vocabulary:**  
**Kurushii:** It hurts  
**Koishii:** Beloved

Posted: 16 October 2003  
Last Edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tag problems)  
Spelling check: YES 


	21. Vulnerability

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients into a new story.

_Italic_: thoughts   
-- --: locations   
"...": spoken words   
~*~*~*~*~: time gap   
*...* : noises

* * *

  


**AN ELVES' CHILD**

-by Kittymui-

  
**Vulnerability**

**  
Previously:**  
Inuyasha watched the little Yuri in his arms, who was playing with his silver hair and shifted his gaze to Kagome and Sesshoumaru.  
He smiled. _As long as she's happy...I'll be happy too..._ he said to himself as he looked at the serene expression on Kagome's sleeping face. 

~*~*~*~

  
Several weeks passed and Inuyasha had completely recovered from his injury and the whole group had lived in the cave until now.  
They knew it wasn't wise to live out here in the wilderness but it would be too dangerous to travel with an injured member, not to mention Kagome's weak body after giving birth to Yuri.

But now it was time to move on to a safer place and they gathered in front of the cave with all the useful stuff they could carry.  
Renkotsu and Kyoukotsu carried the food and water. Kouga carried Kagome's bow and quiver and clothes for Yuri. 

Kagome was still wearing her thick brown fur coat over her white dress and her long hair was tied into a loose braid.

Since Inuyasha didn't need the blanket anymore; she ripped it apart and made some small clothes for Yuri to wear. Sesshoumaru and the rest were wearing their usual outfits.

  
~*~

  
As they walked through the forest; Kagome positioned herself in the middle of the group with Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha walking in front of her. Kyoukotsu and Renkotsu were walking on each side and Kouga walking behind her.

Kagome sighed. _Man...I look really stupid like this..._ she thought bored.

"What's the matter Kagome?" Inuyasha asked, looking over his shoulder to her.

"Nothing...it's just...I feel so vulnerable...with you guys surrounding me like that and me not carrying my weapons..." she replied.

Then Sesshoumaru decided to look over his shoulder to her. "But you are." he stated plainly.

Kagome gave him an annoyed look. "It's so boring if I can't fight alongside you guys. And I kind of miss the days when I had to dress like a boy." she muttered, averting her gaze.

"Kagome, you promised, remember? I cannot have you endanger yourself or our daughter." Sesshoumaru continued, turning his attention back to the road in front of him.

"Wakatteru..." Kagome replied, dropping her face.

  
"Sesshoumaru-sama is right Kagome-sama. We wouldn't forgive ourselves if you got hurt." Kouga added innocently. "Besides, you can pick up your weapons again after Yuri-sama learned how to walk and__"

His voice faltered when he noticed that Kagome was looking over her shoulder to him and giving him a very annoyed look.

She jerked her head back to look in front of her and pouted inwardly. _Mou...this is really irritating...everyone's treating me like I'm made of glass._

Kagome looked down at the sleeping Yuri and her mind was immediately eased. _Shikata ga nai darou ne?_ she smiled inwardly and remained silent for the rest of the journey.

  
~*~

  
Suddenly Kagome felt something graze past her cheek and stopped walking, causing those walking beside and behind her to stop too.

"What's wrong Kagome-sama?" Kouga asked surprised.

Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha stopped at hearing Kouga's question and turned around.

Kagome raised her hand to her cheek and touched the spot with her fingertips where she felt something several seconds ago.

A thin red line suddenly appeared on her cheek.

Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru widened their eyes. "Kagome! You're bleeding!!" Inuyasha said out of shock.

Everyone became alerted and looked around them except for Kagome.

"It's only a small cut. Probably a leaf or something." Kagome said reassuringly. "You guys don't have to overreact__"   
She halted herself when she felt an incoming danger and quickly turned to Sesshoumaru. "Sesshoumaru!!" she called out his name.

Sesshoumaru turned to Kagome. He was surprised when she suddenly pushed Yuri into his hands.

As soon as she released her grip on Yuri, Kagome was suddenly pulled up to the trees.

Everybody jerked their heads up to where Kagome disappeared to and widened their eyes at what they saw.

A huge spiderweb hung high up in front of the trees about 3 meters away from where they were standing.

"Kagome!!" Sesshoumaru called out her name worriedly.

Kagome was hanging in the middle of the web with her arms and legs spread out like a cross. There were threads around her wrists, waist and ankles that prevented her from moving an inch.  
She looked down at Sesshoumaru with eyes filled with shock and shifted her gaze to the web behind her.

_Eh?_ she thought surprised as she saw the black threads on her body and that formed the web. _This...this is...hair!?_

Her attention was drawn by Sesshoumaru as he growled loudly. "Come out Yura!! I know it is you!!"

Everyone turned to Sesshoumaru; surprised...until a soft giggle sounded from above.

  
"Hihihi...I'm glad you still remember me Sesshy-chan." a high-pitched voice spoke.

Sesshoumaru frowned. "Come out or I will make you..." he said with a growl.

  
"Here I am!!!" the voice cried happily as a figure suddenly appeared next to Kagome, at the same height.

All gazes shifted to that person, Yura.

It was a girl with short black hair. She was dressed in a tight black leather dress that stopped halfway her upper legs. The dress had a very low V-shaped neckline and it had no sleeves; almost too indecent for words.

Kagome looked at where the girl called Yura was standing and realized that she was actually standing on several strands of hair just like a rope-dancer. 

"Missed me?" the girl asked sheepishly.

"What do you want Yura?" Sesshoumaru inquired coldly.

"I missed you so much...ever since you left me." Yura continued, ignoring the question. "I searched everywhere for you and__"

"Answer me!!"

Yura frowned at his loud and harsh tone at first but it made way for a cute smile again. "Well, I wanted to see you, Sesshy-chan. I missed you...and your lovely silky hair..." she finally spoke after a moment of silence. 

Sesshoumaru gave her a look of disgust and a glare that told her that he inquired about something else.

"The girl was rude to you a while ago so I thought I should teach her a lesson." Yura explained innocently.

"Release her." he ordered.

"Doshite, Sesshy-chan? Don't you want to punish her for being rude to you? I'll be happy to do that for__"

"Now." he cut her off again.

Yura frowned again but widened her eyes when she noticed what Sesshoumaru was holding in his arms. When she realized what it was, she jumped into the sky and landed in front of Sesshoumaru.

"Kawaii!!!" she shrieked. "Is that a real baby? Can I touch it? I really wanna touch the soft skin _and shred her into pieces_. Yura thought inwardly as she raised her hand and moved it towards the baby.

Just before Yura's hand reached her daughter, Sesshoumaru grabbed her wrist and held it up. "Don't you dare touch my daughter." he growled as he threw away her wrist.

Yura massaged her wrist. "What...afraid that I might kill her? Or should I play with the mother instead?" she provoked.

"You bitch!!" Inuyasha growled, unsheathing his sword and lunging forward at Yura.

Before the sword hit her, Yura quickly jumped away and landed on top of the huge spiderweb where Kagome was tied.

Sesshoumaru turned to Inuyasha and gave him an annoyed look. _Bad move, Inuyasha. _

"Tsk tsk...how dare you insult a lady like that!" Yura spat, brushing her hand through her hair. "Bad doggie!"

"Lay one finger on Yuri and I'll kill you myself!" Kagome snarled as she looked up at Yura at the corner of her eye.

"Hahaha, you should worry about yourself first honey." she giggled.

"You sadist..." Kagome scowled. "...you wanted to capture me and Yura at the same time didn't you? But too bad for you; I was faster." she smirked saying the last sentence.

Yura's smile dropped and made place for an annoyed look. "You might want to watch your mouth, woman." she snarled as she raised her hand to the air and drew a cirkel with her fingers.

At the same time a shimmering black thread came out of nowhere and whirled around Kagome's neck.

As soon as Yura closed her hand and withdrew it, the thread tightened around Kagome's throat, along with all the other threads that bound her body.

"Arck!" Kagome winced and cried out in pain.

"Kagome!!!"  
"Kagome-sama!!!" They cried in unison.

"D-don't worry about me...t-take care of Y-Yuri..." Kagome panted.

"Chikusho!!" Renkotsu cursed. "Do you think you can get away with this Yura!!"

"If you release Kagome-sama now, you might be spared, you know?" Kouga added.

Yura started to laugh. "Hahaha, what do you take me for? I'm not a coward!! I had already planned to kill this whore and her baby at all cost."

Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru narrowed their eyes.

"She took away my Sesshy-chan from me and...and...he's mine...MINE only!!! Nobody takes away things from Yura and gets away with it!!" she cried and jerked at the thread she was holding.

The threads around Kagome's throat, waist, wrists and ankles tightened at the same time and started to cut through her flesh, drawing blood.

"AAAARRGG!!!" Kagome's cry echoed through the forest.

"Hahaha, YES!! Cry louder girl!! But I don't think I can stop torturing you now!" Yura laughed sadistically. "My pretty collection needs a new look and I think I'm going to give it a beautiful red hue, hahaha."

Inuyasha readied his Tetsusaiga and prepared to lunge at Yura but stopped when Yura held up her hand with the thread.

"I wouldn't try that if I were you, dogboy." she smirked. "Or she'll be beheaded before you have even touched my hair."

He lowered his sword and bared his fangs. "Chikusho..." he growled angrily.

"Good boy." Yura grinned. "Now if you don't mind, I would like to finish what I have begun. I don't really fancy half-dyed hair, if you know what I mean."  
With that, she pulled at the thread again, causing Kagome to tense her body and wince.

  
All of them except for Yura and Kagome widened their eyes as they watched the whole web gradually turn red of Kagome's blood.

Sesshoumaru's blood boiled as he watched Kagome's face turn pale. His eyes were locked on a particular drop of blood that criss-crossed it way downwards via all the threads of the web.

As soon as the drop of blood hit the earth, Yuri started to cry, as if she could feel the pain of her mother. 

Hearing his daughter's cry, Sesshoumaru snapped out of it. His eyes flashed red for a second and his whole body pulsated several times.

He turned to Inuyasha. "Inuyasha, take care of Yuri for me and back away from this clearing with the others." he said, handing over her daughter.

Inuyasha sheathed his sword and took Yuri out of his hands. "Don't overdo it." he warned his brother, knowing what would happen next.

With that, Inuyasha went to the others and together they backed away like Sesshoumaru had asked them to.

  
Yura raised one eyebrow as she looked down at Sesshoumaru who now stood alone. "You're gonna beg me to release the wench? How pathetic."

Sesshoumaru's ears twitched and he slowly looked up at Yura. His expression was as emotionless as usual. "Release my mate, Yura." he demanded once more.

Yura widened her eyes. "How dare you!!" she cried. "How dare you call another woman your mate?! Nobody is allowed to have that reputation but me!! You hear me!? ME!!"

Her grip on the thread tightened. "Yurusanai...zettai ni yurusanai!!" she cried furiously. "I'll kill her!! I'll kill this bitch!!"

Yura raised her hand that held the thread.

Kagome gave Sesshoumaru a panicked look._ Sesshoumaru... _she thought sadly before she closed her eyes. _Am I going to die just like that? I haven't even seen Yuri walk yet..._

* * *

**INTRODUCTION TO CHARACTERS OF THIS CHAPTER:**

**Yura:** And former companion of Sesshoumaru. She met Sesshoumaru when she was 16 and now she's around 20 years old. It's not that he wanted her as a companion but she kept following him around wherever he went, so Sesshoumaru let her tag along. Yura loves him very much and is very possessive and obsessive when it comes to Sesshoumaru. Everything went well until Yura killed an innocent young girl out of rage when she was 17. Sesshoumaru didn't tolerate this and banned her out of his group.   
Yura is a full-blooded youkai woman who uses hair (not her own) to do most of the killing. She beheads her victims and adds their hair to her collection (of hair *duh* ^-^). You could say that she loves Sesshoumaru because she's obsessed with his beautiful hair.  
~*~

**Vocabulary**  
**Wakatteru:** I know (already)  
**Mou:** Geez...  
**Shikata ga nai darou ne?:** It cannot be helped, right?  
**Doshite:** Why  
**Kawaii: **Cute  
**Yurusanai:** This is unforgivable/I won't forgive you.  
**Zettai ni:** Absolutely  
  
Posted: 19 October 2003  
Last Edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tag problems)  
Spelling check: YES 


	22. Sesshoumaru's anger

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients into a new story.

_Italic_: thoughts   
-- --: locations   
"...": spoken words   
~*~*~*~*~: time gap   
*...* : noises

* * *

  


**AN ELVES' CHILD**

-by Kittymui-

  
**Sesshoumaru's anger**

**  
Previously: **  
Her grip on the thread tightened. "Yurusanai...zettai ni yurusanai!!" she cried furiously. "I'll kill her!! I'll kill this bitch!!"  
Yura raised her hand that held the thread.  
Kagome gave Sesshoumaru a panicked look._ Sesshoumaru... _she thought sadly before she closed her eyes. _Am I going to die just like that? I haven't even seen Yuri walk yet..._

~*~

  
But the pain never came so Kagome opened her eyes again.

_Eh?_ she thought surprised when Sesshoumaru was nowhere to be found below.

  
"You know very well that I do not like to repeat myself." a voice sounded from above and behind Kagome.

  
_Sesshoumaru!?_ Kagome recognized the voice.

  
Sesshoumaru was standing right behind Yura, holding her wrist with the thread.

His grip on her wrist tightened.

"Itai!!" Yura cried.

"Release her!" Sesshoumaru growled, not loosening a bit.

"What if I don't want to?" she snarled.

Sesshoumaru frowned angrily. Within a blink of an eye, he pulled out his sword and slashed diagonally through her chest; cutting through the thread she was holding.

A shocked look could be seen on Yura's face as her body fell downwards to the grass.

"Insolent woman." Sesshoumaru growled as he sheathed his sword and jumped to land next to her body.

"S-Sesshou...maru..." Kagome's weak voice sounded from above, which caught his attention.

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes. _The threads aren't loosening..._ he realized worriedly.

  
"Hehe...hehehe..." a voice laughed from below. "You have...weakened...Sesshy-chan."

  
Sesshoumaru looked down at Yura again. Before he could do anything, Yura snapped her fingers and he became unable to move as threads came out of nowhere and wrapped around his body.

She snapped her fingers again and this time, a swarm of hair came out from behind the trees and covered her body. 

When the hair flew away, Yura's body was complete again, without any scars left.

  
She slowly got to her feet. "You have narrowly missed my heart love...I guess you don't want to kill me that much." she grinned as she walked closer to the paralyzed Sesshoumaru.

"Oh and another thing before I kill your so-called mate. There is only one way for the threads to be destroyed..." she whispered as she leaned closer to his face. "...and that is...to kill...me."

Just before her lips touched his, Yura pulled away and smiled. "Now of you'll excuse me, I don't want my precious collection's color to be too similar to the bitch's blood. "  
With that, she turned and looked up to Kagome.

Yura raised her hand to the air and a thin thread appeared out of nowhere and floated into her hand. Just when she was about to pull the thread, a tremendous amount of jyaki filled the air, causing shivers down her spine. She slowly turned to the origin of the jyaki. "S-Sesshy-chan...?" she called out his name.

Sesshoumaru's silver hair and tail was floating in the air and his bangs were covering his eyes. His body started to pulsate with each second as he slowly looked up at Yura.

Yura took several steps backwards of shock.

Sesshoumaru looked more vicious than ever with his bloody-red eyes, crescent moon mark and dark marks on each of his cheeks and his bared fangs.

"Then killing you is exactly what I shall do." Sesshoumaru growled with the last drip of his clear conscience

  
Sesshoumaru's cry echoed through the forest as he ripped the threads apart that were paralyzing his body.

*RROOOAAAARRRR*

His fangs were growing larger, along with his nails. A huge red wall of jyaki surrounded him and dissipated after several seconds.

  
Kagome widened her eyes at what she saw.

A huge white dog-like creature appeared on the place where Sesshoumaru was standing before. It was about three times as high as Yura and 12 meters long. It had curly white manes on its back, 4 strong legs standing on the grass with sharp claws and a long thick tail. Its eyes were the color of blood with slit silver pupils.

-- from a distance --

  
"What the hell!?" Renkotsu cried shocked as he saw the huge white inuyoukai.

Kouga turned to Inuyasha. "That's Sesshoumaru???" he asked wide-eyed.

Inuyasha nodded. "My brother is a full-blooded inuyoukai. Like my father, he can release jyaki that's kept within his body and take the form of a true inuyoukai." 

"We've known Sesshoumaru-sama for so long, yet had never seen this form of him before." Kyoukotsu said.

"It's because it takes a lot of determination and strength to release the jyaki within an inuyoukai's body. And not every inuyoukai is able to do that." Inuyasha explained.

They became silent after hearing Inuyasha's explanation and together they watched as the battle continued.

  
-- back to Kagome --

  
_S-Sesshoumaru...!?_ Kagome thought disbelieving.

It was as if the creature could hear her thoughts; it turned its head slightly to look at Kagome out of the corner of its eye.

  
Though transformed and the demon side of him took control, Sesshoumaru's conscience was still there. He looked into her eyes and was surprised when he saw the emotions in them. 

Worry. Love. Trust...but no emotion that would show her fear towards this abominable form.

Kagome wanted to say something but winced when she felt the cutting threads on her throat.

Sesshoumaru growled at seeing the painful look on his mate's face and turned to Yura again, who still had a shocked look on her face as her eyes were still locked on this humongous creature.

  
Without warning, Sesshoumaru swiped his sharp claw towards Yura in attempt to crush her.

Yura dodged it just in time and jumped into the air. 

She landed gracefully on several strands of hair that hung midair and counterattacked by sending a swarm of hair towards the white dog.

Sesshoumaru reacted by sending a large breath of poisonous acid to the hair that instantly melted as soon as it came in contact with the acid.

Yura gritted her teeth at the defeat and sent another wave of hair out of rage.

Sesshoumaru bared his fangs and roared at her persistence and lunged forwards at Yura, while ripping the wave of hair apart with his sharp claw.

Yura saw him coming at her and jumped to get away, but she was bashed aside by his huge tail as soon as she jumped into the air and was sent flying towards a tree.

  
*CRASH*

  
The upper halve of the tree broke into pieces when it caught the impact and Yura's body started to fall forward to the floor.

Before she hit the floor, she was caught by Sesshoumaru's huge claw and was smacked against the trunk of the same tree. Her whole body was now trapped between his claw and the tree except for her head, which was positioned between two sharp nails that formed a V.

Sesshoumaru growled and bared his sharp fangs as he increased the weight on his claw, causing Yura to wince and cough blood.

A smirk appeared on her face. "H-hesitating...? You...you will regret it..." she warned with a hoarse voice.

Sesshoumaru was shocked when a strand of hair floated from above into Yura's mouth.

Without second thought, he threw her up into the sky and sent a breath of acid after her. Within seconds, her body melted into nothingness.

  
*PPPSSSSSRRRRTTT*

  
He stared at the sky where Yura had disappeared. _That happens to those who try to defy me..._ he smirked inwardly.  


  
Kagome was relieved when no trace of Yura was left behind after the acid dissipated.

Suddenly the huge web behind her and the threads around her body snapped and Kagome started to fall towards the floor.

Sesshoumaru quickly turned around and widened his huge red demonic eyes. _Kagome!!!_

  
The humongous white dog turned into the normal Sesshoumaru again in a flash of smoke [AN: Yup! With clothes and armor...don't ask me how it's possible ^-^.] as he dashed towards the falling Kagome.

He jumped and caught her midair and landed softly on the grass.

"Kagome!! Speak to me!! Kagome!!!!" he cried worriedly as he held her closer.

  
Inuyasha and the rest quickly ran to his side.

"Kagome-sama!!" Kouga cried worriedly.

Inuyasha knelt down next to his brother, with Yuri in his arms. Yuri started to sob again, as soon as Inuyasha brought her closer to her mother.

  
Hearing her daughter, Kagome slowly opened her eyes. "Y-Yuri...i-is she...alright?" she asked weakly and a bit scared.

"She's okay...she's safe." Sesshoumaru replied reassuringly.

She wanted to say something else but failed when unconsciousness claimed her again.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha called her name.

"Kagome-sama!!" the three shouted shocked.

  
Sesshoumaru immediately stood up. "We have to search for a safe place for her to lie down." he suggested.

Inuyasha followed his example and nodded while comforting Yuri.

Kouga stepped forward. "Sesshoumaru-sama, I finally remember this forest, I've been her before and if I'm not mistaking, there's a small town nearby." he said.

Sesshoumaru turned to his companion. "Lead the way."

He nodded and dashed towards the South. 

Sesshoumaru, carrying the unconscious Kagome, dashed into the same direction with Inuyasha and the rest followed them.

~*~*~*~

  
Kagome slowly opened her eyes and blinked several times. She realized she was lying on a comfortable bed with a soft blanket covering her in an unknown room. _Where...?_

"You're finally awake." a familiar voice spoke.

Kagome turned her head to where the voice came from.

It was Sesshoumaru.

"S-Sesshoumaru..." she whispered his name.

Sesshoumaru responded by sitting down on the bedside and helping her to a sitting position.

"Where are we?" she asked, leaning her head on his chest.

"We're in a small town called Ciel; this is the inn of the town." he replied.

Kagome thought for a moment before she pulled her arm from under the blanket and looked at it.

Her wrist was bandaged neatly. 

Then she raised her hand to her throat, only to find it bandaged as well.

Sesshoumaru frowned when Kagome clasped his haori and snuggled closer and sighed. "Kagome...back then...when you were in danger...when I changed...were you...scared?" he asked hesitatingly.

"I was at first..." she whispered.

Sesshoumaru's face fell at hearing her answer.

"I was afraid that you might have completely lost yourself and had forgotten all about me and Yuri." she continued.

He widened his eyes of surprise.

"But...I believed in you...you transformed because I was hurt...because you wanted to protect us." she smiled. "That's why you shouldn't worry about it."

Sesshoumaru was relieved to hear this and wrapped his arms around her to pull her closer. "I will never let you be hurt again Kagome, you may use your bow and arrows again."

Kagome widened her eyes and pulled away to look at him. "Hontou ni?" she asked.

He nodded in reply.

"But why? I thought it was a promise."

Sesshoumaru pulled her onto his chest and leaned his chin on her head. "I thought it would be safer for both you and Yuri if you stopped fighting alongside me, but I was wrong..." he explained. "It turned out the other way and I had almost lost both of you because of that."

He hugged her tighter. "I have lost you once and I do not want to experience it again."

Kagome's eyes softened and she hugged him back. "Neither do I."

  
~*~ 

  
Kagome and Sesshoumaru were both sitting on the bedside when Inuyasha knocked on their bedroom door.

*KNOCK KNOCK*

"Come in." Kagome said.

Inuyasha entered the bedroom, carrying Yuri in his arms. "Hey look Yuri, your mommy's finally awake from her beauty sleep." he chuckled teasingly as he approached the parents.

"Well, anyhow, I'm glad you're okay now." Inuyasha smiled as he handed Yuri over to Kagome.

"Arigatou...for taking care of Yuri for the past few days." Kagome smiled, taking Yuri into her arms.

"Do itashimashite." Inuyasha replied, straightening himself up.

He watched Kagome as she hugged her daughter and his brother watching her.

"Actually...I came to say goodbye." he said after a moment of silence.

Sesshoumaru and Kagome widened their eyes as they shifted their gaze from their daughter to Inuyasha. "Goodbye? Why?" Kagome asked surprised.

"I think it's time for me to join my friends. I haven't seen them since we parted 2 months ago." he explained.

"I remember...they were sent to launch an attack at the army of the East." Kagome remembered. "You sure you don't want us to accompany you?"

Inuyasha shook his head. "I'm fine by myself, besides, it would be dangerous to have you and Yuri coming with me."

"Inuyasha..." Sesshoumaru suddenly spoke. "Take good care of yourself and meet up with me when you have found your companions." 

Inuyasha nodded. "I will." he replied. "Take care of yourself aniki, and you too Kagome." With that, he turned around and left the room.

Kagome hugged her daughter and leaned against Sesshoumaru's shoulder. "Will he be okay?"

Sesshoumaru placed his hand on her shoulder. "Do not worry, he's the son of a Taiyoukai, he will be fine." he reassured her.

* * *

**Vocabulary:**  
**itai:** ouch  
**jyaki: **youkai's power/aura  
**inuyoukai:** dogdemon  
**hontou ni?:** really?  
**arigatou:** thank you  
**do itashimashite:** you're welcome  
**aniki:** (older) brother  
**Taiyoukai:** literally 'big demon' ^-^.

Posted: 24 October 2003  
Last Edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tag problems)  
Spelling check: YES 


	23. A place to call home

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients into a new story.

_Italic_: thoughts   
-- --: locations   
"...": spoken words   
~*~*~*~*~: time gap   
*...* : noises

* * *

  


**AN ELVES' CHILD**

-by Kittymui-

  
**A place to call home**

**  
Previously:**  
"Inuyasha..." Sesshoumaru suddenly spoke. "Take good care of yourself and meet up with me when you have found your companions."   
Inuyasha nodded. "I will." he replied. "Take care of yourself aniki, and you too Kagome." With that, he turned around and left the room.  
Kagome hugged her daughter and leaned against Sesshoumaru's shoulder. "Will he be okay?"  
Sesshoumaru placed his hand on her shoulder. "Do not worry, he's the son of a Taiyoukai, he will be fine." he reassured her. 

  
~*~*~ Several days later ~*~*~

  
Kagome and Sesshoumaru were walking over the streets of Ciel.

Ciel was a very cozy town although it wasn't very prosperous as Mayr. The inhabitants of this town weren't rich but they were very kind and polite towards other inhabitants as well as strangers from outside town. All houses except for inns and taverns were row houses and all of them were built with bricks and wood. But unlike the row houses of Mayr, the ones of Ciel didn't have gardens. 

In Ciel, several streets were filled with small retail shops that sold clothes, weapons and food. There were not many of them but all the varieties in the things they sold made it possible for people to spend all day shopping.

"So...what are we going to do today?" Kagome asked, looping her arm around Sesshoumaru's as they walked passed several shops.

Sesshoumaru looked at her. "Since you don't have any other garments anymore except for your white dress, we will have to buy some new ones for you."

"And Yuri." Kagome happily added.

Sesshoumaru smiled. "And Yuri." he agreed.

  
~*~ Later ~*~

  
They returned to the inn after shopping several hours with Sesshoumaru carrying several bags and saw Kouga waiting for them in the hall.

"You have finally returned!" Kouga cried relieved.

Sesshoumaru and Kagome were both surprised, but when they approached him, they realized that Kouga was carrying little Yuri in his arms.

"You can't imagine how difficult it had been, taking care of Yuri-sama." Kouga added.

"Where is the rest?" Sesshoumaru asked as Kagome took Yuri out of his arms.

Kouga sighed. "They pushed Yuri-sama into my arms and fled into town after she started to cry."

Kagome smiled. "Well thank you for taking care of her all this time. I'm impressed that you managed it on your own. It must have been very tough."

"Iie!" he quickly replied. "I'm already happy to know that Kagome-sama and Sesshoumaru-sama trust me that much not to doubt me of doing anything strange to Yuri-sama."

"Don't worry about that Kouga, I know you are trustworthy." Kagome smiled warmly. "You can go upstairs and rest now, I will take care of Yuri."

Kouga nodded and went upstairs to his room.

Sesshoumaru turned to Kagome and his daughter. "Shall we?" 

Kagome nodded and together they retreated to their room with all the clothes they bought.

-- Later, in Kagome and Sesshoumaru's room --

Yuri was lying on her stomach on the bed and watching her mother as she showed her all the clothes she had bought. Her father was sitting next to her on the edge of the bed.

Kagome was wearing her newly acquired nightgown. It was a navy blue dress with silver embedded flowers that accentuated every curve on her body. It had a V-shaped neckline and long wide sleeves, and it was long enough to cover even Kagome's feet.

She and Sesshoumaru both smiled at the expressions of their daughter when she saw the clothes they bought for her. 

"She had inherited the beautiful smile from her mother." Sesshoumaru suddenly spoke as he shifted his gaze from Yuri to Kagome.

Kagome blushed as she walked closer to him and sat on his lap. "Well, she's going to get the lovely sikly hair from her father." she smiled, pointing at the short silver hair that grew on Yuri's little head. 

Sesshoumaru cupped her cheek with one hand and made her look at him again. "Your unique hair color will be part of it as well, love." he chuckled as their eyes met.

Kagome gave him a puzzled look.

"Look closer." he said, pulling his hand away.

She leaned closer to her daughter and looked more carefully until she noticed several strands of black hair between the silver ones. "You're right!" she agreed surprised.

Kagome felt his eyes on her and turned to Sesshoumaru again only to find herself looking into two eyes filled with pride and admiration.

"What?" she asked, bewildered by his gaze.

"You are truly the most beautiful creature I have ever seen." he said with a gentle voice as he ran his hand through her long black hair, which was already twice as long as the original length (a little more and it would be almost as long as Sesshoumaru's hair). "This Sesshoumaru is truly honored to be able to marry her."

Kagome blushed. "Stop that! You're embarrassing me!" she shrieked as she tried to hide her blush with her hands.

"There is nothing to be embarrassed about because I, Sesshoumaru, do not lie." he spoke clearly as he grabbed her wrists with his hands to pull them off of her red cheeks.

Kagome looked intensely into his eyes to see if he was lying but when she found nothing but truth her lips curled up into a grin. She freed her arms from his grip and pushed Sesshoumaru back until he was lying flat on the bed. Kagome was now leaning on top of his chest with her elbows and her head leaning on her arms. "Oh yeah? I don't believe that, you must have lied before." she teased.

Without warning, Sesshoumaru grabbed her waist and flipped her over until he was positioned on top of her. "I do not lie!" he growled quasi-angrily. 

Kagome blinked several times as she looked up at him again and was surprised when he suddenly placed a kiss on her forehead.

"I...have never lied..." he continued, moving down and placing a kiss on her chin. "...and will never lie..." 

Sesshoumaru moved up a little until their eyes met again and their lips almost touched. "...to you." he finished with a grin.

Kagome widened her eyes at hearing that and wanted to argue but before she could do anything, Sesshoumaru had already caught her lips with his.

She struggled for a moment at first but finally gave in and kissed him back as she placed her hands on his back.

  
"Da...dada...daaa..." a small voice suddenly sounded from next to the kissing couple.

Kagome and Sesshoumaru immediately broke their kiss and looked aside. As they did so, they found themselves looking at their daughter staring at them with a pair of eyes filled with puzzlement and curiosity.

"You know..." Kagome smiled, shifting her gaze from the little one to Sesshoumaru. "...she has the same mesmerizing eyes as her father."

Sesshoumaru returned a smile when his eyes met the curious golden orbs of his daughter.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The whole party was standing at the entrance of the inn. They were prepared to leave the town after staying for about a week.

"Where are we heading to now?" Kagome asked. She was dressed in her newly acquired garments for travel and battle. It looked like the clothes of Sesshoumaru, only more feminine and without armor. It was tighter; with shorter sleeves and white, with black edges. A light purple sash was tied around her waist where her haori and hakama met. Below, she was wearing a pair of black boots.

Kagome was carrying her quiver on her back, her bow on her shoulder and her daughter in her arms, who was wearing a small yellow dress with long sleeves and long white socks. 

"We cannot stay here too long, for our money has almost ran out." Sesshoumaru explained. "We are going to an old castle that I have conquered a long time ago."

"An old castle? But what if it's not empty anymore?" she asked.

"You don't have to worry about that, Kagome-sama. If Sesshoumaru-sama had conquered it, nobody would dare to inhabit it, and besides, it's an abandoned castle." Renkotsu reassured her.

"Let's go, shall we?" Kouga suggested. "If we depart now we would surely reach it before the fifth sunset."

With that they left Ciel and headed towards the abandoned castle.

~*~*~ Afternoon ~*~*~

Kagome and Sesshoumaru were walking in the front and Kouga, Renkotsu and Kyoukotsu right behind them as they traveled through the forest.

Suddenly Kagome stopped walking and turned around to Kouga, who was walking right behind her. "Kouga, could you hold Yuri for a moment?" she asked.

"No problem." he replied as he took Yuri into his arms. "But why?"

"I haven't used my skill for a long time now, I'm just wondering if I have lost it." she replied as she readied her bow and prepared an arrow.

Sesshoumaru smiled at this and took several steps away from her to grant her the space. Kouga, Kyoukotsu and Renkotsu followed his example as they watched Kagome concentrate and close her eyes.

It surprised them all when she suddenly aimed up to the sky and released the arrow.

  
*FWISSHHHH*

  
"Renkotsu, move your hands in front of you and catch." she suddenly ordered as she lowered her bow.

Renkotsu gave her a puzzled look but did as he was told.

  
As soon as he did that, something suddenly fell from above into his arms.

*THUD*

"WHOA!!" he cried out of shock.

It was a bird, that fell from above...with Kagome's arrow through its head.

Kagome tilted her head a little with a bright smile on her face. "Nope! I still have it!" she giggled and walked towards Kouga to retrieve Yuri.

"Well...I guess we won't have to worry about dinner if she keep practicing like that." Kyoukotsu smirked.

After Kagome retrieved Yuri from Kouga, they continued their journey again.

~*~*~ Several days later ~*~*~

Just like Kouga had predicted, they finally arrived at their destination in the afternoon of the 5th day after their departure from Ciel.

They stood in front of an abandoned gray castle on a small hill, free from the forest. The walls weren't very high but they were sturdy enough to withstand any discontinuities of Mother Nature.  
The castle was like a square shaped church with its leaded windows. It had four towers on each corner and a small courtyard in the front.

The party entered the small courtyard.

Sesshoumaru turned to Kagome. "What do you think of it?"

"It's nice." Kagome replied, looking all around her.

Although it was small and untouched for a long time, the courtyard looked as if it had never suffered any battles. There were beautiful bushes and flowers everywhere and a small pond with white artistic marble benches around it.

As they entered the castle, they found themselves in a circular shaped hall with three door openings spread equally over the half circle-shaped stone wall.  
The one on the left was connected to a large space that used to be the living -and diningroom and the kitchen. The one in the middle was connected to the stairs that leaded to the four towers and the one on the right to the stairs to the second floor, where the bedrooms and bathroom were located.

Kagome was surprised to see all the furniture standing perfectly on their original spots and turned to Sesshoumaru. "How did you conquer this castle by the way? Talking the inhabitants out of this place?" she asked sarcastically.

Sesshoumaru grinned. "Well, you could say that they wanted to stay alive so they shoved this castle right into my hands. Do you like it?"

Kagome raised an eyebrow at his answer and took several steps forward into the hall. "It's dusty and old..." she began but turned around to look at Sesshoumaru and the rest with a warm smile on her face. "...but it's a place to call home."

Kagome looked around her and nodded. "This place needs a huge clean-up and I think we'll have to start right away." she decided.

~*~*~*~ Several hours later: evening ~*~*~*~

Everybody, except for Kagome was sitting around the round diningtable. They were completely worn out of the whole clean-up thing and waiting for dinner.

The living -and diningroom was altogether about 10 by 5 meters big. It had a fireplace (burning at the moment) with a white rug on the stone floor in front of it and a cabinet filled with firewood next to it. There were several other cabinets and a round diningtable with 8 chairs. And the kitchen was located in a separate small space near the diningtable.

A couple of paintings with beautiful landscapes painted on it were hanging on the stone wall, together with some dried bouquets that were hanging upside down.

Yuri was sitting on the table in front of Sesshoumaru and playing with a small ball that they found during the clean-up.

"Dinner is ready!" Kagome's voice sounded from the kitchen.

Sesshoumaru picked Yuri up and put her on his lap as Kagome came out of the kitchen with a big iron pot and put it on the center of the table. She went back into the kitchen and returned once more with several bowls and spoons. 

"Don't hold back okay? You all have deserved this meal with your hard work." she said as she filled the bowls with some delicious smelling meat stew and passed it to everyone.

  
"This is really delicious!!" Kyoukotsu cried after tasting the first spoon.

"He's right!" Renkotsu agreed, looking up to Kagome as she sat down next to Sesshoumaru. "Where did you learn to make this?"

"By experience." Kagome smiled. "How do you think we have survived when you guys were away? Surely not with bread and water. And besides, I'm the only woman in the group and having a good cooking skill is the least I should possess."

"I think Yuri-sama likes her mother's cooking as well." Kouga laughed, pointed at Yuri, who was giggling after Sesshoumaru fed her the first spoon.

Everyone laughed, watching the little one and finished their meal.

  
~*~ Later ~*~

  
"Let's see, there are a total of four bedrooms." Kagome counted as they stood in the hallway of the second floor. "Me, Sesshoumaru and Yuri will take the biggest room and each one of you can have your own room until Inuyasha and his friends join us again." she decided.

"Alright!!" the three cried happily in unison and each of them entered a room. 

After the three doors closed, Kagome and Sesshoumaru, who was carrying Yuri, entered their bedroom.

-- In Kagome and Sesshoumaru's bedroom --

  
Their bedroom was about 5 by 4 meters big and it had a dark red carpet. There was a king-size bed in the back (center) of the room with a small bedside table next to it and a large cabinet stood next to the door.

"It's really fortunate that we've found this bed for Yuri, don't you agree?" Kagome asked as she approached Yuri's bed. "I'm glad it's still usable."

It was a small rectangular wooden bed, shaped like a box, with a high fence around it reaching the height of Kagome's waist and supported by four thick and round wooden pillars beneath it.

Sesshoumaru nodded in reply as he laid Yuri on the soft white mattress and tucked her in beneath the pink colored blanket.

At the same time, Kagome undressed herself from her white haori and hakama and slipped into a black satin nightdress that reached a bit above her ankles. She climbed onto the bed and settled herself under the soft red covers.

"Brrr, it's really cold without a fireplace." she trembled.

Sesshoumaru walked towards the bed and removed his armor before he joined Kagome under the covers. He grabbed Kagome's waist and pulled her to his chest. "Still cold?" he asked with a gentle voice, wrapping his arms around her.

Kagome stopped trembling after a short moment and snuggled closer. "Never...when you're with me." she sighed contented as she closed her eyes. "Oyasumi..." she whispered in his chest.

Sesshoumaru placed a soft kiss on her forehead before he replied.

"Oyasumi, love." 

* * *

**Vocabulary:**  
**iie:** no/ not at all  
**oyasumi:** goodnite

Posted: 14 November 2003  
Last Edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tag problems)  
Spelling check: YES 


	24. Meanwhile

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients into a new story.

_Italic_: thoughts   
-- --: locations   
"...": spoken words   
~*~*~*~*~: time gap   
*...* : noises

* * *

  


**AN ELVES' CHILD**

-by Kittymui-

  
**Meanwhile...**

  
Inuyasha was dashing along a path through the forest. _The woodcutter said I should reach Mayr within three days if I keep following this path._ he thought as he jumped into the sky and looked around. _I've been running for two days already, I guess I should see the city by now..._

He narrowed his eyes. _It should be somewhere...ah there it is!!!_ he thought relieved when his eyes fell on the city in a distance.

_I should be able to reach it in no time. _ he concluded as he landed on the path again and continued to dash into the direction where he saw the city.

-- Mayr --

  
Inuyasha was sitting on the edge of a fountain that stood in the center of the city. _Hiten and Bankotsu aren't back yet...even the people of this city who joined the Imperial Army haven't returned from the war_. he thought as a creepy thought popped up in his mind. 

He quickly shook it off. _They're fine...they're both strong so I shouldn't be worrying too much._ he decided as he stood up and headed towards the Northern gate of Mayr.

_The bastard Naraku suddenly left the city for the Capital...what will he be scheming now..._ Inuyasha pondered as he made his way through the streets.

Suddenly a loud cry sounded from a distance behind Inuyasha, causing him to snap out of his thoughts.

  
"COME BACK HERE YOU DAMN CREATURE!!!" a male's voice cried.

Inuyasha turned around and realized that everybody had backed away to each side of the street, leaving him standing all alone in the center of the street.

"COME BACK!! STOP!!" the voice yelled again, this time it sounded a lot nearer than first.

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes and noticed that something was running his way.

He widened his eyes when he saw what it was. 

_Kagome's horse!!_ he realized surprised. "Kyra!!!" he called out her name.

The white horse whinnied at hearing its name and lowered its pace when it reached the hanyou in red.

"It's really you, isn't it?" Inuyasha asked, raising his hand.

Kyra lowered its head to his hand and slightly nodded.

Inuyasha smiled and patted her head.

  
"I should have slaughtered you when I had the chance, you freaking beast!" an angry voice growled and panted.

Inuyasha's ears twitched and jerked his head to where the voice came from.

A chubby man was standing not far away from them and breathing heavily. By his appearance, he was most likely a butcher: dressed in a ragged brown tunic with a dirty apron over it. And most of all, this man reeked of animal blood.

"Who the hell are you?!" the man asked.

Inuyasha frowned. "Stand behind me Kyra." he ordered. 

The horse did as it was told and walked to behind Inuyasha.

"Get away from my horse you demon!!" 

Inuyasha grinned. "Oh I know the owner of this horse alright, but it's definitely not you. Sorry pal, but this horse is coming with me."

The butcher took out his big knife. "Give it back before you get hurt." he threatened.

"Feh!" Inuyasha spat in reply.

Without warning, the butcher charged at Inuyasha with his knife first.

  
*CLASH*

  
The big iron knife was smashed out of the butcher's hand and flew into the air.

"What the?!" the butcher blinked several times before he realized what had happened and where his knife was.

Inuyasha had drawn his sword and smashed away the butcher's knife. He moved its tip to the butcher's neck. "Spit it out! Where did you get this horse?!" he growled angrily.

The butcher's knees became weak and he collapsed to the paved street with his knees. "S-some landlord gave it to me. H-he said this creature was a nuisance since it didn't want to work for him. I-I thought I could sell it to some noblemen for a high price but today this animal freaked out in front of them and broke out of the stables, so I ran after it to catch it."

_Must be the landlord of our row house._ Inuyasha thought.

"What are you going to do with the horse?" the butcher asked defeated.

Inuyasha sheathed his sword. "I'm taking it with me." he replied plainly.

"B-but__" the butcher swallowed his sentence when Inuyasha gave him a glare of death.

"Come." Inuyasha said to Kyra as he walked pass her into the direction of the city gate. The horse followed him obediently after looking at the butcher silently for several seconds.

The people of the street shifted gazes from the defeated butcher and the silverhaired hanyou in red. But none of them dared to interfere with the fight and just thought of it as a regular streetfight.

  
-- Outside Mayr --

  
Inuyasha was walking through the forest again; this time with Kyra walking right behind him. "You're really lucky that I had returned to the city at the right moment." he chuckled. "Or did you break free of the stables because you knew I had returned?" he asked, turning around to face the horse.

He slightly patted the horse's head. "Just kidding! Anyhow, I'm glad you're still alive and well. I'm sure you're mistress would be happy too." he smiled.

The horse whinnied in reply. 

"Right now, I'm looking for my friends. I haven't seen them for about two months now, I wonder if they're alright." Inuyasha explained as he turned around to walk again.

  
While walking, Inuyasha told Kyra what had happened until now and how her mistress was doing before he left her to search for Hiten and Bankotsu.

After he finished his story, he suddenly turned around to Kyra and smiled. "Hahaha, I wonder what made me explain the whole thing to you."

Kyra didn't react and only looked Inuyasha.

Inuyasha looked up at the orange colored sky. "The sun will set soon, we'll have to look for a safe place to spend the night." he suggested, looking back at the horse to see her slightly nod in agreement.

Inuyasha patted her head again. "I don't even know if you understood me at all, but thanks for listening anyway." he smiled awkwardly.

  
"Don't worry...she does..." a soft voice suddenly sounded from above.

Inuyasha immediately became alerted. "Who's that?! Show yourself!!" he cried, with his hand on the hilt of his sword.

*giggle* "Up here." the voice replied.

Inuyasha jerked his head up to where to voice came from, only to see a little girl sitting on a high branch of a nearby tree; looking down at him.

She was quite young and was dressed in some strange garments that Inuyasha had never seen before. The girl was wearing a thin green dress with short sleeves; with real fresh green leaves embedded on it. There were also leaves hanging from the edges of the dress.   
The girl was barefooted and her skin was slightly tanned. 

But what Inuyasha found most peculiar about the girl was her hair. It had the same color as Kagome's: raven black.   
_And her scent...it's different from that of humans and youkai._ he thought frustrated. _Forest and waterfalls...just like Kagome..._

"Who are you?!" Inuyasha growled.

The girl jumped form the branch and landed gracefully on the grass. "You don't have to growl at me like that, I'm not a bad person if that's what you're thinking." she said as she walked towards Inuyasha.

When she stopped in front of him, Inuyasha realized how short the girl was, for she barely reached Inuyasha's waist.

"My name is Phly, nice to meet you, Inuyasha onii-san." the girl smiled, looking up at Inuyasha with her strange pale green eyes.

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes. "How do you know my name?"

"Kyra just told me." Phly replied casually. "Just like any other elf, I can communicate with animals." she explained, noticing the puzzled look that the hanyou was giving her.

"Though you may think it's impossible, animals like Kyra do understand the things people say to them and__"

"W-wait a minute." Inuyasha cut her off. "W-what did you just say?"

"That animals like Kyra__"

"No no, before that."

Phly thought for a moment. "Oh! You mean that I can communicate with animals because I'm an elf?"

Inuyasha nodded.

"What about it?" she asked.

Y-you're an elf??? Aren't they supposed to be myths and fairytales?" he asked surprised.

"Oooooh....you think I'm just you're imagination huh?" Phly giggled. "Well I'm not! I'm perfectly real!!"

The girl turned around to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Inuyasha asked.

"You're looking for a safe place to stay for the night, right?" she replied as she looked over her shoulder at him. "I know a place...I'll tell you more when we get there, okay?"

With that, she started to walk away.

Inuyasha just stood there. _Should I trust her? She doesn't look hostile though..._

He snapped out of his thoughts when Kyra walked pass him and followed the girl.

"W-wha...?! Kyra!? You trust her??" Inuyasha asked surprised.

The horse stopped for a moment and gave him a small nodd before she continued to follow the girl.

Inuyasha sighed. _Well...I guess I should trust Kagome's horse..._ And he began to follow the girl called Phly.

* * *

**Vocabulary:**  
**onii-san:** big brother 

Posted: 17 November 2003  
Last Edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tag problems)  
Spelling check: YES 


	25. Kagome's origin

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients into a new story.

_Italic_: thoughts   
-- --: locations   
"...": spoken words   
~*~*~*~*~: time gap   
*...* : noises

* * *

  


**AN ELVES' CHILD**

-by Kittymui-

  
**Kagome's origin**

**  
Previously:**  
"You're looking for a safe place to stay for the night, right?" she replied as she looked over her shoulder at him. "I know a place...I'll tell you more when we get there, okay?"  
With that, she started to walk away.  
Inuyasha just stood there. _Should I trust her? She doesn't look hostile though..._   
He snapped out of his thoughts when Kyra walked pass him and followed the girl.  
"W-wha...?! Kyra!? You trust her??" Inuyasha asked surprised.  
The horse stopped for a moment and gave him a small nod before she continued to follow the girl.  
Inuyasha sighed. _Well...I guess I should trust Kagome's horse..._ And he began to follow the girl called Phly. 

  
~*~ Later ~*~

  
Inuyasha, Phly and Kyra were sitting inside a small wooden shed in the middle of the forest. A small fire was warming them up and giving the shed a cozy orange hue.

  
"So... forest elves do exist." Inuyasha suddenly started after he settled himself comfortable against one of the walls; with his sword resting against his shoulder.

Phly nodded and leaned against Kyra's back, who had laid down on the floor behind her. "We just don't show ourselves very often, that's all. And not everyone can see us; only if we really really want someone to see us or if the person is really really special." she explained as she played with her long straight black hair.

"What made me an exception?" Inuyasha asked curiously.

"Well, rumor said that Myrna-sama's daughter had been saved by a handsome inu-hanyou by shielding her from a firestone with his body, so...I wanted to meet this person." Phly blushed.

"Wait a minute...who's Myrna?" Inuyasha asked with a puzzled expression.

"Myrna-sama is one of the oldest and wisest elves. She's well-known among us elves because she had sacrificed her youngest daughter a long time ago in order to soothe the pain of a young couple." she explained. "It was a very nice couple and even us elves were happy for them when their first child was born. But sadly, fate wasn't very kind to her."

"One day, when the mother put her in the cradle and left her alone for a moment, a black cat suddenly jumped through the window into the cradle and lied down on top of the baby."

"Why didn't you help the baby?" Inuyasha interrupted.

"Younger elves of my age weren't allowed to help humans or youkai back then...it was the law of the elves." Phly replied.

"What happened next?"

"The young elves went to Myrna-sama to tell her about it and together they went back to the baby but it was already too late. The baby died of suffocation and the black cat was nowhere to be found.  
Myrna-sama, who didn't want the couple to be sad, sacrificed her youngest daughter by putting her into the cradle. This way, the couple wouldn't find out about their dead child."

"Myrna-sama had hoped that the couple would cherish her as their own daughter and take good care of her like Myrna-sama would have...and they did...but...not for long..." the elf continued as tears welled up in her eyes. "As soon as the couple saw the strange features that their baby was starting to have, they concluded that she wasn't theirs. They started to hit her and treat her like dirt because they believed that they would get their real daughter back by torturing the child."

"Myrna-sama wanted to take back her daughter but it would only make the child feel worse because the poor girl would think that she was being treated like an object; she wouldn't understand her true mother's intentions. So she had to watch the painful experiences of her daughter for a long time; every day praying that it would get better. And finally, one day, fate was merciful enough to let her meet a kind inuyoukai who cares for her."

_This story sounds awfully familiar...where have I heard it before...?_ Inuyasha mused as he continued to listen to the little girl.

"She was even luckier to have met you, who protected her and shielded her from the horrible firestone." Phly smiled. "Although we had given her hints about how to save your life, we were still surprised by her perseverance and intelligence, which she used well to heal you and to survive in the middle of the wilderness. She's truly the child of our wise Myrna-sama." she finished proudly.

Inuyasha thought silently for a moment until something in his mind snapped. "W-wait a minute...I-I'm involved? So... which means...oh my God!" he widened his eyes as he came to realization. "The child...I mean...the elves' child that you were talking about...were you talking about...Kagome??"

"Oh right!! It's Kagome-sama!! I totally forgot! How silly of me!" Phly laughed as she tapped her forehead with her hand.

Inuyasha stared at the fire with wide eyes. _Kagome...is an elves' child?? It's true that she had told me some parts of her sad past before...but her being an elf?? Unbelievable...._

"There's no mistaking it I guess...Kagome's scent is truly similar to yours and she does have the same rare haircolor like you." he concluded. 

"But...she doesn't know that herself...does she?"

"Well, she did accept the fact that she is an elves' child, but only because of the rumors and fairytales of her village. Nobody actually told her the truth and the facts about her origin." she replied.

"Then why don't you tell her? She's old enough not to doubt Myrna's true intentions." Inuyasha asked, shifting his gaze to Phly.

The elf looked at Inuyasha for a moment before she began to talk again. "I don't think it's a good idea to do that; it's not going to change anything and it would only confuse her and make her think about her sad past again...I think Myrna-sama also thinks that way...even now..."

  
A moment of silence passed by with the two just staring at the fire.

"Then why did you tell me all this?" Inuyasha suddenly asked, looking at the elf again.

Phly closed her eyes and pulled up her knees to lean her head on them. "The truth is, I really wanted to tell this to Kagome-sama herself. But I've never had the chance to...since she always has company." she confessed. "And after thinking some time, I had decided that it's for the best if I didn't tell her about her true origin."

The little elf opened her pale green eyes and looked back at Inuyasha. "I really wanted to share this story with someone else than my kind so I ended up sharing this with you I guess..."

  
Inuyasha gave her a warm smile, which totally surprised the elf. "Thank you..." he said with a gentle voice. 

_I was sad to know that she'll never truly belong to me...but knowing about her past and true origin made me kind of...happy...that I can keep a part of her with me..._ he smiled inwardly. _...it's not much...but it's enough..._

"... for sharing it with me."

Phly tilted her head slightly and returned a smile. "Thank you for listening." 

The elf stretched her arms and yawned.

"It's getting late, you should get some sleep. Don't worry, I'll keep watch." Inuyasha reassured her.

Phly nodded and leaned her head on the back of Kyra. "Oyasumi, onii-chan." she whispered, closing her eyes.

"Oyasumi." Inuyasha replied as he stared into the calm fire again. 

_Kagome...aniki...I will return to your side as soon as I have found Hiten and Bankotsu, I promise..._ he thought determined.

* * *

**Vocabulary:**  
**inuyoukai:** dogdemon  
**onii-chan:** big brother  
**oyasumi:** goodnight  
**aniki:** (older) brother

Posted: 21 November 2003  
Last Edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tag problems)  
Spelling check: YES 


	26. No time to lose

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients into a new story.

_Italic_: thoughts   
-- --: locations   
"...": spoken words   
~*~*~*~*~: time gap   
*...* : noises

* * *

  


**AN ELVES' CHILD**

-by Kittymui-

  
**No Time To Lose**

**  
Previously:**  
The elf stretched her arms and yawned.   
"It's getting late, you should get some sleep. Don't worry, I'll keep watch." Inuyasha reassured her.   
Phly nodded and leaned her head on the back of Kyra.   
"Oyasumi, onii-chan." she whispered, closing her eyes.  
"Oyasumi." Inuyasha replied as he stared into the calm fire again. _  
Kagome...aniki...I will return to your side as soon as I have found Hiten and Bankotsu, I promise..._ he thought determined.

~*~*~ The next morning ~*~*~

  
Inuyasha opened his eyes when several rays of light fell on his face, waking up him. _I fell asleep huh? _ he thought as he got to his feet. _ I guess I was really tired then._

He looked around inside the shed. Kyra was still resting on the floor and a small pile of charcoal and ashes could be seen on the spot where the fire was burning before.

_Huh!? Where's Phly!?_ Inuyasha realized alarmed. 

Her scent still lingered in the air but she was nowhere to be found inside the shed. 

Inuyasha walked over to where the elf was sleeping last night; only to find a small piece of paper lying on the floor next to Kyra.

He bent his knees to pick it up and realized that it was a note.

~*~  
_Dear Inuyasha onii-chan,   
You looked kind of tired so I put some leaves of the sleeping willow into the fire last night to let you sleep while I kept watch. Don't worry about me, I wasn't kidnapped if that's what you were thinking. I just left when you both were sleeping because I had something to do.  
  
I know that onii-chan is looking for his two best friends. I had some friends from the forest help me out and they told me that your friends are staying at the Capital. Don't worry, I told them to keep them there at all cost until you got there.   
The Capital lies in the far West from here but it's not a tough journey; you should be able to reach it without any hardships.  
  
Don't have to thank me. This is the least I could do to repay you for trusting me and listening to my story. I'm sure we will meet again someday.   
-Phly-_   
~*~

_So she left huh?_ Inuyasha thought as he stood up again and put the note in his sleeve.

He turned to Kyra when he heard her stand up behind him and patted her head. "Good morning to you too!" he smiled. "Let's go find a river to wash ourselves. we have a long way to travel from here."  
The horse nodded in reply and followed him out of the shed into the forest again.

~*~*~*~*~ Several months later ~*~*~*~*~

  
-- The Capital --

The Capital was the most important and biggest city of the Western Lands. It was located within the protective walls of the Castle where the king of the Western Lands resided. There were two big gates where people could enter or leave the place; either through the Eastern or the Western Gate. Both gates were strongly secured by soldiers of the big guarding towers that stood on both sides of the gates. The Castle stood in the back of the city and entering it was only allowed to those who had permission to.

The city itself was several times bigger and more prosperous than Mayr and the number of inhabitants was more than any other city in the Western Lands. Because most of the houses were row houses, the Capital looked more like a labyrinth from above (with the entrance/exits on the Eastern and Western side) with its treasure at the center of the artwork: the trade market. It was the biggest of them all, where merchants could trade anything they wanted to trade and travelers could buy anything they wanted to buy. The variety of the goods traded there was larger than anyone could have imagined.

Decorated iron lanterns with fire burning inside that hung on high stone pillars, stood all over the place on each side of the streets, which allowed the city to be full of life after sunset as well. There were also small parks within the Castle walls where people could relax and take a walk.

  
Hiten and Bankotsu, who had followed the Imperial Army back to the Capital, were walking down the streets near the Eastern Gate.

"Hey Bankotsu, why are we staying here instead of searching for Inuyasha and the rest?" Hiten asked, walking next to Bankotsu as they walked passed a marble fountain. 

"Because we'll never be able to find each other if they're also searching for us at the same time. It's wiser to stay at one place." Bankotsu replied.

"But we've been staying here for 2 months already!!!" Hiten cried frustratingly.

Bankotsu gave him an annoyed look. "It took us more than a month to reach this place, how long do you think it will take them to get here??" 

"Besides, there's a lot to see in this city since it's so big." he added.

"Yeah right, how many times do you think we have seen that fountain already?" Hiten muttered as he pointed at the fountain they just passed. 

Bankotsu sighed. "Okay okay, I agree with you that it's taking them too long to find us, but I still think it's wiser to stay here and wait."  
Then he noticed the scared look on Hiten's face. "What?"

Hiten didn't have to say what he was thinking about for it was already written all over his face.

"Of course not!! Man, we've been through this already!" Bankotsu growled.

"But what if Kagome really was in danger back then? What if__"

"How many times do I have to tell you!? THEY ARE FINE!! Now don't worry too much about it okay?" he cut him off. 

  
"Look, we have tried to leave here before...remember?" he said after calming down.

Hiten thought for a moment. "Yeah, I remember. And every time we tried to leave, something always blocked our way and made us return to the Capital."

Bankotsu nodded. "At first I thought it was just a coincidence but after so many iterations, I doubt that someone or something isn't trying to keep us here."

"It could be Naraku's doing you know?" Hiten suggested.

"I don't think so...what would do him any good to keep us here? We aren't wanted or something like that. I mean...if Inuyasha or Sesshoumaru was here, it would have made sense." Bankotsu reasoned. "Not that our friend is a criminal but he could do a lot of damage with his Kaze no Kizu and people could see that as a threat." he quickly added. "And besides, Naraku isn't even in the Capital anymore."

"Hmm...I guess you're right." Hiten agreed.

Suddenly Bankotsu stopped walking, causing Hiten to stop too. "Hey what's wrong?" he asked, as he traced his friend's gaze to a person in the distance.

His eyes widened when he realized who it was. 

Before he could ask Bankotsu, he realized that his friend had already jumped into the air towards the person, so he did the same and followed.

-- At the Eastern Gate --

  
"I told you! I'm only looking for my friends!" Inuyasha explained to the guard in front of him, slightly irritated.

"You can't fool me! Why are you carrying a weapon? You're probably an assassin, aren't you?!" the guard spat.

Inuyasha growled and wanted to smack the idiot but halted himself when he heard someone call his name.

  
"Inuyasha!!!!" two familiar voices cried in unison.

He jerked is head to where the voices came from and was surprised to see his two friends land next to him and Kyra. "Hiten!! Bankotsu!! It's so good to see you guys again!" he laughed. "How have you been doing?"

After Hiten and Bankotsu made clear to the soldier that Inuyasha wasn't a suspicious person, they turned to Inuyasha again.

Bankotsu gave him a puzzled look first and sighed in reply as he rubbed his forehead. "We were worried sick about you and the rest and you only act as if you only went away on holiday." 

"Bankotsu's right!" Hiten agreed. "We were afraid that something might have happened to you and we've tried to leave this place before...but every time we did that we ended up going back to this city again." 

_Must have been Phly's friends._ Inuyasha thought amused as a smile appeared on his face.

"It's not funny!" Hiten spat angrily. "We thought it was Naraku who was keeping us here but Bankotsu reasoned that it wasn't possible because he already left the Capital a long time ago."

Inuyasha snapped out of his thoughts after hearing the bastard's name. "W-what did you just say about Naraku?" he asked alarmed.

"That he left this place a long time ago...why? What's wrong?" Bankotsu asked, noticing the serious expression on Inuyasha's face.

"Was there something unusual about him leaving? Rumors or anything explaining why he left?" he inquired.

Hiten thought for a moment.

"Now that you mention it, I remember seeing him at the gates on the day he left when Bankotsu and me were doing some errands; it was about one month ago. And the strangest thing was that he took a large group of soldiers with him."

"Yeah, it was quite a scene that day. I thought he was planning an ambush on the Eastern Lands or something but I rejected that possibility when I realized that his army consisted only of human soldiers." Bankotsu explained.

Inuyasha became even more alarmed after hearing this. _Please don't let it be what I think it is..._ he hoped inwardly.

His attention turned to Hiten again when he heard him chuckle. "And then we heard about the reason why he left with such a big army; it was really stupid. I recall it was something about taking revenge for his brother and that he had permission from the king to take that army with him."

Inuyasha widened his eyes of shock. _Oh my God...this is bad...this is really bad..._   
He snapped out of his thoughts when he felt something pulling his haori. When he looked aside, he realized it was Kyra that drew his attention.

He patted her head to reassure her and turned to his friends again. "Hiten, Bankotsu, go fetch your weapons. We're leaving this place immediately, now hurry!! There is no time to lose!"

Hiten and Bankotsu were both shocked by their friend's seriousness but they knew he wasn't joking so they gave him a quick nod before they dashed into the direction of the inn where they were staying.

-- At the gate --

When they arrived at the gate with their weapons, Inuyasha only gave them a small nod before he turned around and dashed into the forest with Kyra running after him.

Hiten and Bankotsu nodded at each other and dashed after Inuyasha into the forest.

-- In the forest --

As soon as Hiten and Bankotsu caught up with Inuyasha, they immediately fired their questions while dashing.

"What's wrong Inuyasha? Why did we have to leave so abruptly? Is it Naraku?" Bankotsu started.

"Why are we chasing him? He's only attacking the ones who killed his brother." Hiten added.

"I..." Inuyasha began. "Together with Kagome...killed Naraku's brother."

They both widened their eyes. "WHAT!?!" they cried at the same time.

"B-but how? Why??" Bankotsu asked.

"Naraku's brother is Musou, and he was responsible for sending my brother away from Kagome. When he realized that we were still by her side, he had Naraku send us away as well." Inuyasha explained.

"So it was all a trap!" Hiten concluded angrily. "Then you were right when you said you wanted to go back to Kagome's side because you thought she might be in danger."

Inuyasha nodded. "Musou attacked her one month after we left. Fortunately I arrived at the same time and saved her from being tortured. And we killed Musou in the process."

As they continued to dash, Inuyasha explained to his friends what had happened while they were apart.

  
~*~

"Wow, your brother is really clever to be able to escape a trap like that." Hiten chuckled after listening to his story.

"Yeah, but unfortunately it's not the time to relax and laugh about the past because Kagome and the rest will soon be in grave danger, so we have to hurry." Inuyasha said with a serious tone.

"You're right about that but..." Bankotsu responded. "...how do you know where they are at the moment? How do you know we're running in the right direction?"

Inuyasha didn't reply immediately as he thought about what happened earlier when he was waiting for them to return with their weapons.

[FLASHBACK]

  
_Phly...if you can hear my thoughts, please come look for me. I really need your help at the moment._ Inuyasha thought desperately as he stood near the Eastern Gate outside the Capital.

  
"What's wrong onii-chan? You don't look so well." a small voice sounded from behind Inuyasha.

Inuyasha quickly turned around and widened his eyes. "Phly!!" he cried relieved. "You came!!"

"I just arrived here and I saw you standing here in front of the Gate...have you found your friends?" she asked.

Inuyasha nodded. "But we have to leave again, that's why I wanted to ask you if you could help me."

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"Kagome and the rest are in grave danger; Naraku is heading to where they are. He's going to avenge his dead brother. Can you please tell me where I can find them? Could you try and warn them before Naraku reaches them? I beg of you, please help me..." he asked with a desperate voice.

Without saying anything else, Phly closed her eyes and concentrated. Then she suddenly floated into the air in front of Inuyasha.

He widened his eyes.

Little transparent green wings were growing from the little elves' back and flapping to keep her midair. They weren't ordinary wings like those of birds, but more wings of a dragonfly. The upper pair was slightly wider and bigger than the lower pair of wings.

"Don't worry onii-chan. I'll try to get to Kagome-sama as soon as possible." Phly finally spoke, opening her eyes. "She's living with the rest in a castle not very far away from the town called Ciel. I'll have some friends of mine mark the shortest road for you to reach her; you'll just have to follow the trail of fireflies that'll only be visible to you." 

"Thank you Phly." Inuyasha smiled, slightly reassured.

The elf returned a small smile and a nod before she flew away.

At the same time, Hiten and Bankotsu arrived at Inuyasha's side.

[END FLASHBACK]

  
  
"Just trust me okay? I have a guardian angel who will lead the way." Inuyasha finally replied after a moment of silence. _Please let her reach Kagome on time..._ he prayed in his heart.

"A guardian angel huh?" Bankotsu thought aloud.

"I know it doesn't sounds persuasive, but we have more important things to worry about at the moment." he said, a bit desperate. "I don't know how Naraku found out about Kagome and Sesshoumaru's whereabouts but we have to try and reach them before Naraku does."

"We are already at a disadvantage since he and his army left a month ago, so we're having a race against time." he continued. "I just want to protect the ones I love and I'm ready to give my life for it. That's why I'm asking you guys. Will you help me and fight by my side?"

Hiten and Bankotsu glanced at each other before they answered at the same time. "Always."

Inuyasha felt relieved and looked at his friends. "Thank you guys."

"We took an oath together, remember?" Bankotsu smiled.

"Yeah, we live together...we die together." Hiten agreed. "Nothing is going to change that."

"Okay! Enough of this chatter, let us kick Naraku's ass before your brother does!" Bankotsu growled aloud as he increased his speed.

Inuyasha and Hiten agreed with a nod and increased their speed too. 

_Sesshoumaru! Kagome! Hold on...we're coming!!!_ Inuyasha thought as he clenched his claws.

* * *

**Vocabulary:**  
**onii-chan:** big brother

Posted: 28 November 2003  
Last Edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tag problems)  
Spelling check: YES 


	27. Lured away

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients into a new story.

_Italic_: thoughts   
-- --: locations   
"...": spoken words   
~*~*~*~*~: time gap   
*...* : noises

* * *

  


**AN ELVES' CHILD**

-by Kittymui-

  
**Lured Away**

  
//Changing our perspective to Kagome and Sesshoumaru again ^-^//

  
Sesshoumaru and Kagome were standing at the doorway between the living room and hallway and preparing themselves for departure. Kouga, Kyoukotsu and Renkotsu were sitting on the floor around the rug near the fireplace in the living room. They were all looking at Yuri, who was sitting on the rug and playing with several blocks.

There was a lot of hair growing on her little head now. It was mostly silver but some parts of her bangs and the hair near her ears were raven black.   
Also, some faint marks were starting to appear on her face: a crescent moon mark on her forehead and two pairs of dark stripes right below her eyes, just like her father.

  
"So...what do you guys want for dinner?" Kagome asked cheerfully as she equipped herself with her bow and arrows. She was wearing her hunting/battle clothes that she bought back at Ciel. 

[AN: In case you have forgotten, it's almost the same as Sesshoumaru, only smaller and tighter. In other words, more feminine ^-^.]

"Now that you ask, I'd really like to eat that delicious stew of yours again." Renkotsu said.

"Oh, you mean the one I made when we first came here?" Kagome asked.

Renkotsu nodded. "Yeah, it's already been a half year since we've tasted it."

Kagome pondered for a moment. "Well, if you guys promise me to take good care of Yuri while we are away to gather the ingredients, then stew it is what we'll have for dinner tonight." she decided.

"Don't worry, we will." Kouga promised.

After hearing that, Sesshoumaru and Kagome left the castle.

-- In the forest, some time later --

  
"Kagome?" Sesshoumaru suddenly started as they walked through the forest.

"Hm?"

"Are you...happy?" 

Kagome stopped walking and turned to Sesshoumaru with a puzzled expression. "Why are you suddenly asking me that?" she asked.

"I mean...is this the life you wanted?" he continued.

Kagome's puzzled expression remained unchanged.

"You were attacked back then...I wasn't there to protect you from Musou. Then you were attacked again by Yura...because of me." Sesshoumaru explained. "I__"

Kagome halted him by placing a finger on his lips. "Please don't apologize." she said. "I never blamed you and it's not your fault."

"It's true that I get injured very often...and to be honest with you, I had never expected that my life would turn out like this." she continued without removing her finger from his lips. "I've always thought that I would end up on my own; that I could never be loved for the rest of my life...but then you appeared. You gave me hope back then and when I heard that you were going to be executed, I was scared...scared that the only person who cared about me would be taken away from me. When I pleaded for your life I thought you would reject me but you didn't...you accepted me as your mate."

"I was so happy...I admit that I wasn't truly in love with you when we married...but..." Kagome confessed as she finally pulled away her finger and leaned her head onto his chest. "...now I know I do...I love you so much...dakara onegai...don't ever think I would be better off without you. I can't ask for more happiness than you're already giving me...if being injured is the price I have to pay for being with you then so be it." she sobbed. "I rather end my life than being separated from you or Yuri."

Sesshoumaru immediately wrapped his arms around her and held her close. "Do not ever say that!" he growled. "I will never let you die!!"

"Don't ever doubt my happiness again..." Kagome sobbed in her chest.

Sesshoumaru pulled away a little and lifted her chin with his thumb and forefinger, only to find two streams of tears on her cheeks.

He gently wiped her cheeks dry with the back of his hand. "I'm sorry." he apologized.

Kagome suddenly chuckled. "Baka, I told you not to apologize."

Sesshoumaru returned a smile before he placed a kiss on her forehead. "Shall we continue our food hunt then?" he asked, releasing her from his embrace.

Kagome nodded and together they continued to walk through the forest.

~*~ That night ~*~

  
"That stew of years is truly delicious." Sesshoumaru smiled as he settled himself under the covers next to Kagome.

_She's asleep?_ he wondered as he received no reply. He frowned as he looked at Kagome's face. 

_Something's wrong..._ he concluded.

Sesshoumaru wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. It was then that he realized that her whole body was trembling. "Kagome? What is wrong?" he asked worriedly.

Kagome slowly opened her eyes at hearing her name and looked up at Sesshoumaru with a pair of frightened eyes. "S-Sesshoumaru..." she whispered.

She quickly clasped his haori. "S-something's wrong...something bad is going to happen..."

Sesshoumaru stroked her hair. "Shh it's okay. It's only a bad dream_"

"No! It's not!" she cut him off. "This feeling that I'm having...it's cold and cruel..." 

Kagome buried her head in his haori. "Promise me! Don't leave me alone! Don't ever leave my side...onegai!!"

"Kagome__"

"Promise me!! I beg of you!!" she sobbed.

Sesshoumaru's eyes hardened. _This isn't her at all...could it be true what she is saying?_ he wondered. "I will not leave you alone, I promise." he finally spoke.

Kagome relaxed a little after hearing this and closed her eyes. "Thank you." she said before she fell asleep.

_Could it be true...? But if it's something ominous...I should have felt it or smelled it by now..._ he reasoned inwardly before he fell asleep too.

~*~ The next day ~*~

  
Sesshoumaru was standing on one of the castle walls and looking at the environment around the castle. _Something bad is going to happen huh?_ he recalled Kagome's words. _I guess we should discuss this together after Renkotsu and Kyoukotsu return from doing their errands._ he decided.

"Sesshoumaru-sama?" Kouga's voice sounded from beside him.

Sesshoumaru turned to Kouga. "What is it?"

"Is there something wrong? You look quite disturbed." he asked.

"Yes...there is something...but I have decided to discuss this after Renkotsu and Kyoukotsu return." Sesshoumaru replied.

Kouga nodded. "Oh! I found this letter in the courtyard, I think it's for you." he suddenly remembered as he handed a white envelope to Sesshoumaru.

Sesshoumaru took it and unfolded the letter that was inside.

  
_Come to Ciel if you want to see you little brother again...alone._

  
Although there was no sender written on the letter, Sesshoumaru already knew that the letter was from Naraku since his scent was all over it. He growled and shred the letter into pieces before he let it drift away with the wind.

"Are you really planning to go? Sesshoumaru-sama?" Kouga asked. "It could be a trap..."

"I have no choice." Sesshoumaru replied after a moment of silence. "Although there is no proof, Inuyasha might really be in Naraku's hands right now. I would never forgive myself if he got killed just because I thought it could be a trap."

"Should I inform Kagome-sama about this?"

"No." he replied. "I do not want to worry her. _Especially because I have promised her..._ And if possible, do not mention me leaving the castle at all." 

With that said, he turned his back to Kouga. "Take care of Kagome for me while I'm gone." he said.

"I will. You be careful, Sesshoumaru-sama." Kouga said.

Sesshoumaru nodded and jumped from the castle wall.

_I'm sorry Kagome..._ he thought as he started to dash into the direction of the town.

  
~*~

"Sesshoumaru!!" Kagome cried as she quickly straightened herself up in her bed. Small drops of sweat could be seen on her forehead as she looked beside her. 

_Oh god...please let him still be in the castle..._ she thought scared as she realized that Sesshoumaru wasn't lying next to her.

Suddenly Kouga ran into the room. "What's wrong?!" he cried.

"N-nothing...it was just a bad dream." Kagome replied with a tired voice as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"You scared the hell out of me you know?" Kouga chuckled awkwardly.

"W-where's Sesshoumaru? Can you tell him to come here please?"

*silence*

"Kouga? What's wrong?" Kagome asked, looking up at Kouga.

She frowned when she saw the uneasiness on his face. "Kouga...where is Sesshoumaru?" she demanded once again.

Kouga smiled. "Kagome-sama, you look tired you know? Maybe you should__"

"Answer me!!" she cut him off with a growl.

"H-he didn't want to worry you so he went..." Kouga halted himself and quickly turned his back to Kagome when he saw that she had started to undress herself. "K-Kagome-sama! What are you__"

"Keep talking." she cut him off again as she slipped out of her nightgown. 

Kouga swallowed. "T-there was a letter...addressed to Sesshoumaru-sama. It was Naraku. He said that he was holding Inuyasha captive in Ciel. Sesshoumaru-sama didn't want you to worry so he went there on his own."

_That liar!! He promised me that he wouldn't leave me!!_ Kagome thought angrily.

"Kouga."

"Y-yes?" he responded.

"You can turn around now."

Kouga did as he was told, only to see her fully dressed in her battles clothes and equipped with her bow and quiver.

"Where did you find that letter?" she inquired.

"In the courtyard...on the floor." he replied.

Kagome thought for a moment. "Don't you find it strange that someone or something could actually put it there without being noticed?"

"What do you mean Kagome-sama?"

"Sesshoumaru is an inuyoukai and you are a wolf youkai. You both have a keen nose...how is it possible for you guys not to notice someone entering the courtyard??" she explained.

Kouga widened his eyes. "Now that you mention it...b-but what does it mean?"

Kagome frowned.

"Kagome-sama?" he called out her name when he saw the worried look on her face.

"Can..." she began again. "...can you still smell Sesshoumaru?"

Kouga sniffed the air. "His scent still lingers in the air...but it's old. That's strange...my nose is telling me that he isn't in the vicinity anymore...but that's not possible!"

"Come with me." Kagome ordered as she headed towards the door to the hallway. 

Kouga followed her.

-- Outside the castle --

  
_Yappari..._ Kagome thought disturbed. "Look at the trees, Kouga." she said.

Kouga did as he was told and froze. "Oh my God..." he said as he realized what was wrong.

The landscape before them was just like a painting. None of the trees...not even a single leaf was moving. It was as if time had stopped for Mother Nature.

"Do you know what might have caused this?" Kagome asked.

Kouga thought for a moment. "A wind-user...it must be a wind-user doing this." he replied.

  
"Kouga...please look after Yuri for me, I'm going after Sesshoumaru. He might be in danger." Kagome decided after a moment of silence.

Kouga nodded and ran back into the castle.

_Sesshoumaru...wait for me! I'm coming!_ she thought determined.

  
Just when Kagome was about to run, an explosive sound could suddenly be heard from a distance; followed by a deafening crash from behind her.

  
*kaboom...............BWRRRAAAAAAAHHMMMM*

  
Kagome widened her eyes as a gush of wind lifted her long black hair up from behind. She quickly turned around and froze at what she saw.

One of the towers was blown into bits and smoke was coming out from the corner of the castle.  
Kagome gasped when she realized that her bedroom was located right below it and ran as fast as she could back into the castle. 

_Oh God...oh God... please let Yuri and Kouga be okay..._ she prayed desperately. _Sesshoumaru...please come back!!!!!_

* * *

**Vocabulary:**  
**dakara onegai: **that's why I beg you  
**baka:** idiot  
**yappari: **just as I thought

Posted: 3 December 2003  
Last Edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tag problems)  
Spelling check: YES 


	28. Revenge

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients into a new story.

_Italic_: thoughts   
-- --: locations   
"...": spoken words   
~*~*~*~*~: time gap   
*...* : noises

* * *

  


**AN ELVES' CHILD**

-by Kittymui-

  
**Revenge**

**  
Previously:**  
One of the towers was blown into bits and smoke was coming out from the corner of the castle.  
Kagome gasped when she realized that her bedroom was located right below it and ran as fast as she could back into the castle. _  
Oh God...oh God... please let Yuri and Kouga be okay..._ she prayed desperately. _Sesshoumaru...please come back!!!!! _

~*~*~*~*~

[AN: Changing our perspective to Sesshoumaru now ^-^!]

--- In the forest ---

  
_This is strange..._ Sesshoumaru thought as he dashed through the forest. _I have not run very far from the castle, yet Kagome's scent has completely disappeared from the air..._

Then Sesshoumaru suddenly stopped dashing. _Wait a minute...something is very wrong here..._ he realized. _Kagome's scent did not gradually disappear from the air...it happened within a split second._

"So you've finally realized it huh?" a female voice spoke from above. 

Sesshoumaru looked up at where the voice came from.

A woman jumped from a big feather in the sky and landed softly on the grass not very far away from him.

The woman wore a white yukata with red sakura blossoms embedded on it. She had black hair tied up into a knot with several white feathers decorating it. In her right hand, she was holding a white fan with red flowers painted on it.

"Who are you?" Sesshoumaru demanded cautiously.

"The name's Kagura." the woman replied.

"You are a youkai and you reek of Naraku..." Sesshoumaru growled.

"What a keen nose you have there...but unfortunately it doesn't work too well when the wind's blowing the other way." Kagura smirked as she folded her fan.

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes. "You are...a wind-user." he concluded after thinking a moment.

"Congratulations for finding out...but you've realized it too late." she responded and threw a feather into the air.

As soon as the feather reached the sky above the trees the deafening sound of a cannon echoed through the forest, causing a swarm of birds to ascend to the sky, followed by a distant sound of an explosion.

  
Sesshoumaru quickly turned around. "That's..." _..my castle's direction!!!_ he realized, slightly panicked.

"What's the matter Sesshoumaru? Afraid that you might find you most beloved dead beneath the rubble?" Kagura giggled.

Sesshoumaru's ears twitched at hearing this and his eyes flashed red for a second. He slowly turned back to Kagura. "What did you do?" he growled threateningly.

"Taking revenge for the one I loved." Kagura stated plainly. "Your woman killed my most beloved so I'm taking her life to ease my grief."

"I think you should head back to your castle now. Or your love might be killed eventually if the impact had spared her life." she suggested with a grin.

Her amused expression vanished as soon as she saw the smirk on the inuyoukai's face. 

"You are truly underestimating my mate." he began. "Some measly army won't be able to kill her. And besides...she would never forgive me if I let you live after what you have done."

The glare that Sesshoumaru was giving her sent shivers down her spine and she took several steps backwards. 

Kagura then quickly hid her fear again and forced a grin on her face. "She won't survive this one, I'm afraid." she said as she opened her fan and drew a diagonal line with it.

A strong gush of wind suddenly came from behind Kagura and blew past the two youkai. "Can you smell it now?" she asked.

Sesshoumaru widened his eyes as he recognized the smell that started to fill the air around them. _Gunpowder!?_

Kagura smirked at seeing his surprised expression. "Yes, it's gunpowder...an army larger than you can imagine and every single soldier equipped with a deadly weapon called a gun."

Sesshoumaru dropped his face until his bangs covered his eyes.

"Oh and have I mentioned the row of cannons that's surrounding the castle from a distance?" she continued. "But I'm sure you have already realized that, haven't you?"

  
"Are you finished?" the inuyoukai growled without lifting his face. "I must praise you for your courage to face me on your own...but you will regret messing with me soon..."

"Be prepared wench..." he threatened as he flexed his claws and looked up at Kagura with blood-red eyes and slit silver pupils. "...because I am going to end your chatter once and for all!!"  
Without warning, Sesshoumaru suddenly charged at the wind-user with his claw first.

Kagura was shocked to see the sudden change of her opponent but quickly pulled herself together and jumped away just in time to avoid the attack.

  
*CRASHHHHHH*

  
Her eyes widened of shock when she saw the damage that her own body would have received, had she not jumped away on time.

Sesshoumaru was now standing in front of a flattened pale-green landscape that was still sizzling of the poisonous acid from his claw attack.

_What the hell!? He just destroyed a whole group of trees with one claw attack!?!?_ Kagura thought shocked.

She snapped out of her thoughts when she saw that Sesshoumaru had turned to look at her again with those ferocious eyes that were filled with the desire to rip her apart.

Kagura gritted her teeth. _I won't be killed that easily!! Even if it's the famous Sesshoumaru!!_ she thought determined as she tightened her grip on her fan.

"Fuujin no Mai!!!" she cried and at the same time swiftly swiped the air in front of her with her fan.

A group of boomerang-shaped wind blades suddenly appeared and were sent flying towards Sesshoumaru with great speed.

Sesshoumaru grinned and made a graceful swing with his claw.

Within seconds the wind blades were all smacked aside by a thin pale green whip that appeared from his claw.

Several blades were sent back to Kagura and made her jump aside to avoid them. _Dammit!! Is he really that powerful!?_ she cursed inwardly, landing on the grass again.

--- Back at the castle ---

  
_Please let them be safe!!_ Kagome prayed in her mind as she ran up the stairs.

She gasped and widened her eyes as soon as she entered her bedroom.

The wall that stood right in front of Kagome (i.e. the wall from across the doorway) was completely crushed and there were glass shards and large pieces of bricks spread all over the place.

Kagome froze when she saw the cradle that stood near the window before. It was smashed into pieces by the impact and was partly buried under the rubble.

She slowly walked towards the remnants of the cradle and knelt down. Then she noticed several stains of red liquid on the cradle and rubble. _B-blood!!_ her mind screamed.

"No...NOO!!!" she cried as she hugged herself. "T-they can't...they can't be dead..."she sobbed.

  
Suddenly, a hoarse and weak voice sounded from behind her.

  
"K-Kagome...sama..." 

  
Kagome immediately turned around to the voice and widened her eyes. "Kouga!!!" she cried relieved and quickly ran to his side.

Kouga was sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall from across the broken wall. His legs were pulled up and his arms were resting on his knees. There was blood running from a deep cut on his forehead and from the corner of his mouth. His arms were filled with cuts inflicted by the glass shards of the windows and his legs were filled with bruises and deeper cuts.

Before Kagome could ask anything, he already began to explain. "I...I didn't know what happened...but when I heard...the distant sound...I-I knew that there was s-something wrong..." he managed to say.

"Kouga, don't push yourself." Kagome quickly said. "You can explain it later...after I get you out of here...after you recover from your injuries."

Kouga shook his head. "P-please let me finish...Kagome-sama...I-I had to protect Yuri-sama...I promised you..." he continued.

Kagome averted her gaze, for she had already lost the hope of finding her daughter alive.

  
"S-so...I did..."

  
She turned to look at him again. "W-what did you just say?"

"I protected...Yuri-sama...she...she's safe..." Kouga explained as he moved his arms to his side and lowered his legs a little, revealing a small white object with red stains.

Kagome widened her eyes when she realized it was Yuri's blanket that was resting on his lap.

Kouga slowly pulled away a piece of blanket and revealed a frightened and teary-eyed Yuri.

Tears welled up in Kagome's eyes as she reached out for the little one and took it from his lap.

"D-don't worry...the blood...is mine..." Kouga reassured her.

"Th-thank you...thank you so much..." she sobbed in reply.

After a moment of silence, Kagome dried her tears and moved to Kouga's side. "We have to get out of here. I'll help you get up." she said as she pulled Kouga's arm over her shoulder.

"Y-you should...just leave me...and go..." he groaned.

"There's no way I'm going to leave you behind. So just shut up and spare you strength for our escape. You're too damn heavy for me to drag you out of this place on my own!" she commanded as she pulled him to his feet.

Kouga chuckled and did as he was told.

  
Suddenly he felt something an incoming danger coming from the doorway and quickly moved himself between the door opening and Kagome and embraced her to protect her.

  
*POW*

  
Kagome just stood there in silence as she felt Kouga's body tense. It took her several seconds to realize what had happened and she looked up at Kouga, who still had his arms wrapped around her. _K-Kouga!!!_

She snapped out of her thoughts when an extremely familiar voice started to speak. 

  
"See? That's why I hate youkai!! They're so goddamn unpredictable!!"

_N-Naraku!?_ Kagome thought shocked.

  
"K-Kagome-sama..."

  
Her attention was drawn again when Kouga lowered his head and started to whisper in her ear. "D-draw...your bow...I...I will cover you...until...then..." he whispered softly as he released her from his embrace and carefully took Yuri out of her arms.

Kagome pushed back her tears as she took a deep breath and soundlessly pulled an arrow out of her quiver.

  
"What are you two muttering about?!" Naraku snarled as he still had his gun aimed at Kouga's back. "Get out of the way youkai!!" he growled.

To Naraku's surprise, Kouga suddenly dropped down to the floor (with his back still facing Naraku), revealing a determined Kagome who had drawn her bow and aimed the arrowhead at him.

"You bitch!! You tricked me!!" Naraku cried angrily and fired his gun at her. 

  
*POW*

  
At the same time, Kagome released her arrow and sent it flying towards Naraku's chest.

  
*BZZZIINGGG*

  
Then all became silent.

--- In the forest ---

  
Sesshoumaru jerked his head into his castle's direction. _The scent of Kagome's blood!!!_ he realized with wide eyes.

"He...hehehe..." Kagura's voice sounded weakly. "M-Musou...I have finally avenged your death..." 

Sesshoumaru turned to look at her.

She was lying on her stomach on the floor, in the middle of a pool of her own blood. Her garments were stained with blood and some parts were shred into pieces.

He narrowed his eyes as he watched Kagura exhale her last breath of life. 

Her corpse dissipated into the air and drifted away with the wind, leaving only her torn garments and broken fan behind.

  
Without second thought, Sesshoumaru dashed back towards his castle. 

--- At the castle ---

  
Naraku took several steps backwards of shock. 

He wanted to laugh when his eyes fell on Kagome, who was covering her bleeding chest with one hand, but a stabbing pain coming from his chest wouldn't let him.

He slowly looked downwards and saw the arrow that was half buried in his chest. "Hehe..." he began to chuckle as blood came out of the corner of his mouth. "...you're...not...done with me yet...I still have...one bullet left."

Naraku tightened his grip on his gun and aimed it at Kagome again. "This time...I'll make sure I hit your heart!!" he growled.

  
Kagome frowned. _Dammit...my vision...my vision is starting to fail me..._ she thought as the room began to blur in front of her eyes. Her gaze shifted from Naraku to the innocent Yuri, who was sobbing softly in the arms of her unconscious friend.

_For Yuri's sake...I...I have to hold on..._ she thought determined and reached out to her quiver to draw another arrow. But before she had completely drawn her bow, the immense pain on her chest caused her to wince and drop the arrow to the floor.

  
*Clatter*

  
_NOO!!!_ her mind screamed as she realized she had lost her only chance of survival.

  
"Too bad bitch...today is not...your lucky day." Naraku smirked as he started to pull the trigger.

Kagome dropped her bow to the floor and closed her eyes. _Sesshoumaru..._

  
*POW...CLASH* 

  
When Kagome opened her eyes again, she found herself looking at a familiar sword that was positioned in front of her chest. _T-Toukijin??!_ she recalled the name of the sword.

Kagome's gaze trailed from the small indent inflicted by the bullet to the hilt of the sword and widened her eyes. "S-Sesshoumaru!!" she cried with a hoarse voice as she saw him standing next to her.

But he didn't look back at her, he only glared at Naraku with his fangs bared as she slowly lowered his sword. "You bastard!!" he growled angrily.

"I...I failed...b-but you haven't won yet..." Naraku grinned as more blood streamed out of his mouth and wound. "...my men...will finish...it...for me...I...I'll see...you...both...in...h-hell..."

With that, he collapsed to the floor and died.

* * *

**Vocabulary:**  
**inuyoukai:** dogdemon  
**Fuujin no Mai:** Dance of the Wind-Blades  
**Toukijin:** Sesshoumaru's sword.

**INTRODUCTION TO CHARACTERS OF THIS CHAPTER:**

**Kagura:** A female youkai who can control the wind with her fan. She loves Musou very much and never stopped loving him in spite of the fact that Musou loved Kikyou and murdered her. When she found out that Musou was murdered, she agreed to help Naraku (Musou's brother) to avenge his death.

Posted: 9 December 2003  
Last Edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tag problems)  
Spelling check: YES 


	29. Sacrifices

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients into a new story.

_Italic_: thoughts   
-- --: locations   
"...": spoken words   
~*~*~*~*~: time gap   
*...* : noises

* * *

  


**AN ELVES' CHILD**

-by Kittymui-

  
**Sacrifices**

**  
Previously:**  
"I...I failed...b-but you haven't won yet..." Naraku grinned as more blood streamed out of his mouth and wound. "...my men...will finish...it...for me...I...I'll see...you...both...in...h-hell..."   
With that, he collapsed to the floor and died.  
  
~*~*~*~*~

"S-Sesshoumaru..."

  
Sesshoumaru snapped out of his thoughts and turned to look at Kagome. 

"A-are...we going to...die?" she asked monotonously as she lowered her hand from the wound other chest.

Sesshoumaru widened his eyes. He didn't notice it before but her blood was everywhere on her clothes and on the stone floor.

He immediately dropped his sword to the floor and caught her before she completely lost her balance. "No! We are not going to die!! I will not let you or Yuri die!!" he growled.

  
"S-Sesshoumaru-sama...Kagome...sama..." a weak voice suddenly called their names.

Sesshoumaru quickly turned to where the voice came from and realized it as Kouga who spoke. He knelt down together with Kagome in front of Kouga.

"I...I'm really happy...to have fought be your side...I really...am..." he said with a hoarse voice as he handed Yuri over to Kagome. "...b-but I don't think...I can be of any help anymore...please forgive...me..."

Tears welled up in Kagome's eyes as she took Yuri into her arms. "D-don't say that...you're going to be okay...right Sesshoumaru?" she said as she shifted her gaze to Sesshoumaru.

"You have done well...Kouga," Sesshoumaru said. "do not worry...I will protect her."

Kagome widened her eyes and shifted her gaze back to Kouga again, only to receive a small nod and a weak smile coming from him.

Kouga slowly laid his head back on the stone floor and closed his eyes as he exhaled his last breath.

"No...no...." Kagome sobbed as she buried her head in his mate's chest.

Sesshoumaru responded by holding her closer to him, but before he could say anything to comfort her, a loud voice from outside the castle had already spoken first.

  
  
"Sesshoumaru!! I know you're in there!! Surrender yourself or we will blow your castle to smithereens!!!"

Sesshoumaru growled and looked down at Kagome. "Stay here." he said as he released her from his embrace.

Kagome quickly clasped his haori. "NO!! I'll go with you!!" she pleaded weakly.

"Kagome...you__"

"Don't...argue with me...Sesshoumaru..." she cut him off as she held her daughter close to her.

Sesshoumaru sighed and carefully pulled her up to her feet as he straightened himself up. With his arms on her waist to support her, he slowly walked over to the broken wall.

They both widened their eyes when they saw the swarm of soldiers that had gathered not far away from the castle walls.

_Oh my God..._ Kagome thought.

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes. _Renkotsu...Kyoukotsu...what is taking them so long??_ he pondered worriedly.

His thoughts were cut off when a male's voice spoke again. "Finally decided to show yourself huh?"

When they looked down, they realized it was an officer who spoke. He had short brown curly hair and was dressed in a dark blue formal suit with golden buttons. A long black cape was attached to both his shoulders. He was sitting on a horse that stood in front of the whole army of soldiers.

"You've escaped death once, but now you will have to face the fact that your life will end right here." the officer continued.   
[AN: It's the same officer that planned the trap at the Valkyrie stronghold and killed every single youkai except for Sesshoumaru and his group.]

"What do you want?" Sesshoumaru growled.

"Nothing special." the officer smirked. "I just wanted to give you a small present."

With that, he snapped his fingers and shortly after that a shorter officer dressed in a dark green suit appeared, with several soldiers behind him. They carried two corpses and threw them next to each other on the grass next to the horse.   
The shorter officer sent the soldiers away and positioned himself next to the horse.

  
Kagome gasped while Sesshoumaru averted his gaze as they both realized the identities of the two dead bodies that the soldiers threw on the grass.

  
Kagome buried her face in Sesshoumaru's haori. "This can't be happening...it's too cruel..." she sobbed in his chest.

Sesshoumaru tightened his grip on her waist. _Even Renkotsu and Kyoukotsu..._ he thought as he shifted his gaze from his companions to the officer. He was looking at him with a grin on his face.

  
_What do I do now...what should I do...?_

Without saying anything else, Sesshoumaru gently lifted Kagome up in his arms (bridal style) and turned to walk into the room.

"S-Sesshoumaru...what are you doing?" Kagome asked with wide teary eyes.

Without answering her question, he carefully laid her on their bed, which was only partly damaged by the impact.

"Sesshoumaru, talk to me! Why...what are you__" Before she could finish her question, Sesshoumaru suddenly caught her lips with his.

Although it was a kiss more passionate than ever, Kagome couldn't help but notice a lot of pain and sadness in it.

Tears streamed down her cheeks uncontrollably as she felt the warmth of his lips fade away. "No..." was the only word she managed to whisper as she slowly opened her eyes to look at him again.

He averted his gaze and straightened himself up to walk away from the bed.

"Sesshoumaru!! You...you're..." she panted as she tried to get up, only to fall back onto the pillows again.

_It's not use...I...I don't have the strength...to push myself up anymore..._ she thought to herself. _My wound will open again if I move too much...but..._

"Sesshoumaru...stop..." she whispered with a trembling voice.

Kagome felt slightly relieved when he finally stopped walking away. But something inside her told her that she wouldn't be able to change his mind as he didn't turn to look at her.

"L...look at me...please..." she pleaded with tears streaming down her cheeks.

There was a small hope growing inside her heart when she saw him turn around but all of it vanished as he stopped halfway and refused to look at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Aishiteru...Kagome..." were his only words before he turned his back to her and started to walk away again.

"No!! Sesshoumaru!!! I beg you!! Please come back!!" Kagome cried with the last bit of her strength.

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes and jumped out of the bedroom.

~*~

He landed gracefully in front of the bodies of Kyoukotsu and Renkotsu and knelt down. 

  
The officer on the horse suddenly chuckled. "I hope you like the...presents. You cannot imagine how tough it was to capture them. They were truly stubborn...stubborn and foolish to choose death over submission," he laughed, "but I was in a good mood so I just granted their wish, isn't that nice of me? Hahahaha!"

Sesshoumaru's ears twitched at hearing this. Without second thought, he summoned his deadly whip and swung it at the officer without standing up.

  
*SLASH*

  
And the officer was slashed cleanly in two (together with the horse) in a split second before they could even make a slight sound.

It took the shorter officer and the rest of the army several seconds before they realized that their captain had been killed.

"He killed the officer!! Kill him!!!" the shorter officer shouted angrily as he aimed his gun at Sesshoumaru. 

The rest followed the officer's example and pointed their weapons at the inuyoukai.

Sesshoumaru withdrew his whip and stood up without taking his gaze off of his dead companions.

_Renkotsu...Kyoukotsu, you both can rest in peace now...I have killed the bastard. But please forgive me for what I am going to do now...I wish it could be resolved in another way but I have no other choice._ he apologized to them in his mind as he turned to the shorter officer who was still pointing his gun at him. _ If I have to sacrifice myself to save my most beloved...then so be it..._ he thought determined.

  
"Either you listen to me or I will make sure you all won't be able to see the light of another day before I have entered my grave." he growled seriously.

The shorter officer and the soldiers thought for a moment before they finally lowered their weapons to the floor.

"Talk." said the officer.

"I am sure you all would get a big reward for bringing my corpse back to your king, or at least, that is what I presume what Naraku had promised you," he began. "but now that he is dead, I doubt that you will ever be able to lay a finger on that reward__"

"We are going for the fame that would be given to us when we show your corpse to the whole kingdom! What would money do us any good anyway if we're just measly subordinates!?" a soldier from the crowd cut him off.

Sesshoumaru turned to the one who dared to interrupt him and gave him the glare of death. _I knew it would be something like that..._ he thought disturbed. _I guess that leaves me no other choice..._

"Unfortunately, I, Sesshoumaru will not be killed that easily. I am afraid that more than three-quarter of this army would already have lost their heads before they have taken away the last breath of life from this body of mine." he smirked as he looked at the whole army in front of him.

"That is why I want to make a deal with you humans." he added.

"I am willing to let you take my corpse back to your kingdom if and ONLY IF you vow NOT to pursue the ones related to me any further."

~*~

Kagome widened her eyes at hearing this. _Sesshoumaru!! You...you can't do this to me!!!_ her mind screamed but before she could open her mouth and scream, unconsciousness already took over her whole body.  
Little Yuri, who Kagome had been holding in her arms until now, slowly slipped out of her warm embrace and landed softly on her stomach onto the bed. She slowly crawled back to her mother and started to sob as tears crossed the thin dark marks on her little pink cheeks.

~*~

"Is that a deal?" Sesshoumaru asked, as he ignored the suffocating scent of his mate and daughter's tears.

The short officer stepped forward. "Deal." he spoke with a clear voice. "Then I will take the honor to send you the first bullet."

With that said, he took several steps backwards and aimed his gun at the inuyoukai's heart. The whole army behind him also took several steps backwards to give him the space.

Suddenly a grin appeared on the officer's face. "Don't worry about your wife...I will take GOOD care of her after I killed you!!" he shouted with a smirk as he pulled the trigger.

*POW*

Sesshoumaru widened his eyes and growled as he looked at the approaching bullet. _Chikusho!! I will not be able to dodge this!! _ he concluded fearfully and cursed himself mentally for trusting humans.

Then suddenly a huge blade flew downwards from the sky and hit the earth right before Sesshoumaru.

  
*WHHAAAMMM*

  
Followed by a sharp sounds of some iron drilling into another piece of iron.

  
*SSHHHRRREEEEEKKKK*

  
Sesshoumaru blinked several times at the blade in front of him that shielded him from the deadly bullet. "T-this is___"

Before he could finish his sentence, a familiar voice called his name from above.

  
"SESSHOUMARU!!!"

  
When he looked up at the sky, he realized it was Inuyasha.

Inuyasha landed softly on the grass next to his brother. "Are you okay?" he asked with a pant.

Sesshoumaru nodded. "How...how did you___"

"Long story...but it seems that we don't have the time for explanations right now." he concluded as he scanned the environment.

He widened his eyes when he saw the damaged castle and the two corpses on the floor. "What the...!!!" he gasped and turned to Sesshoumaru. "Where's Kouga and Kagome?!"

Sesshoumaru averted his gaze. "Kouga died protecting Kagome and Kagome...she...." he explained hesitatingly.

Inuyasha frowned. "And what the hell do you think you were doing?!" he growled.

"I had no other choice, it was the only way to save them...so I had to try..." his brother confessed.

  
"Enough of this crap!!" the officer cried angrily. "We won't let you escape from here!! Don't forget our group of cannons that is surrounding this place!!!"

  
Inuyasha turned to him and smirked. "Well you can forget about that trump card of yours...because they've already been wiped out by my friends!"

"Why you!!!" the officer scowled as he fired his gun at the hanyou.

  
*POW*

  
Inuyasha quickly grabbed his blade and his brother by his upper arm and jumped into the air towards the damaged castle.

Inuyasha's eyes widened of shock when he saw how badly damaged the bedroom was and when he saw the bodies of Kouga and Naraku. He was even more shocked to see the unconscious Kagome and the crying Yuri by her side on the partly damaged bed.

Sesshoumaru was shocked as well to see the pale face of Kagome.

"Kagome!!" they both cried worriedly as they ran towards the bed.

  
Inuyasha frowned as he sheathed his Tetsusaiga. It really hurt him to see her like this. But what pained him even more was the sad expression that could be seen on Kagome's face.

When he shifted his gaze to his brother, he saw the pained expression on his face too.

"Sesshoumaru...take Kagome and get away from here." he suddenly spoke after a moment of silence.

Sesshoumaru quickly turned to Inuyasha with wide eyes.

"There's no time to hesitate, aniki!!" Inuyasha added seriously.

Sesshoumaru growled. "What do you take me for?! There is not way I am going to escape and let you fight alone!! I would never forgive myself____

  
"Would you be able to forgive yourself if Kagome DIES!?!! Or for letting Yuri grow up without her father and mother?!!!" Inuyasha cut him off angrily. "She would never forgive you if you died and survived with Yuri!!!" 

A pained expression appeared on Sesshoumaru's face again as he realized how true it was what Inuyasha said.

Inuyasha crossed his arms. "Keh! I'm not alone! I still have Hiten and Bankotsu remember??" he spat. "Now go!! Take Kagome and get away from here while I hold them back!!!"

Sesshoumaru thought silently for a moment before he lowered himself and carefully gathered Yuri and Kagome in his arms.

After he straightened himself up he turned to Inuyasha again, only to receive a determined nod.

"I'll catch up with you guys after I made sure they won't form a threat to us anymore." Inuyasha decided.

Sesshoumaru nodded. "Take care, Inuyasha."

"Protect Kagome and Yuri...don't ever leave them alone again." Inuyasha spoke.

"I will protect her with my life, I promise." Sesshoumaru replied. "We will wait for you in a safe place."

"Good...now go!!" Inuyasha ordered.

  
Without second thought, Sesshoumaru ran out of the bedroom to the other side of the castle with Kagome in his arms. He jumped out of one of the windows and dashed into the opposite direction of the army into the forest.

~*~

Inuyasha closed his eyes and sighed as Sesshoumaru and Kagome's scent slowly started to fade.

  
*drip...drip...*

  
He slowly opened his eyes and looked at the floor, only to see a small drops of blood near his feet. He slowly un-crossed his arms and lowered one of them to his side while the other was still covering his waist.

  
_Chikusho..._ he cursed inwardly as he looked at his blood-stained claw on his waist.

He moved his free hand to the hilt of his Tetsusaiga and revealed a huge transformed blade as he unsheathed it. _There's no way I'm going to lose to some human army..._ he growled inwardly as his grip on the hilt of his blade tightened.

Inuyasha slowly made his way to the broken wall and looked outside at the swarm of army that was trying to break the castle wall. 

He slowly uncovered his wound and raised his Tetsusaiga with two claws on the hilt.

  
"THIS IS AS FAR YOU WILL GET!!! THERE'S NO WAY I'M GONNA LET YOU BASTARDS LAY ONE FINGER ON KAGOME OR SESSHOUMARU!!!!!!" he exclaimed with a loud growl as he jumped into the air with his blade raised above his head.

"KAZE NO KIZU!!!!" Inuyasha's cry echoed through the forest.

* * *

**Vocabulary:**  
**Tetsusaiga: **a blade made of the fang of Inuyasha's father. It belongs to Inuyasha.  
**chikusho: **damn it  
**aishiteru:** I love you  
**inuyoukai: **dogdemon  
**hanyou:** halfdemon  
**aniki: **older brother

Posted: 18 December 2003  
Last Edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tag problems)  
Spelling check: YES 


	30. A forest named after Inuyasha

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients into a new story.

_Italic_: thoughts   
-- --: locations   
"...": spoken words   
~*~*~*~*~: time gap   
*...* : noises

* * *

  


**AN ELVES' CHILD**

-by Kittymui-

  
**A forest named after Inuyasha**

**  
Previously:**  
Inuyasha slowly made his way to the broken wall and looked outside at the swarm of army that was trying to break the castle wall.   
He slowly uncovered his wound and raised his Tetsusaiga with two claws on the hilt.  
"THIS IS AS FAR YOU WILL GET!!! THERE'S NO WAY I'M GONNA LET YOU BASTARDS LAY ONE FINGER ON KAGOME OR SESSHOUMARU!!!!!!" he exclaimed with a loud growl as he jumped into the air with his blade raised above his head.  
"KAZE NO KIZU!!!!" Inuyasha's cry echoed through the forest.

~*~*~*~*~

  
[AN: For those who want to know the time of the day. Sesshoumaru was lured away a little past sunrise and he returned to the castle several hours after that. And this chapter (right now) is starting a little past noon.]

  
After running several hours, Sesshoumaru arrived at a small cave. After he made sure it's safe, he entered it and carefully laid Kagome on the floor.

Sesshoumaru then gently picked Yuri up and put her behind him. "Don't look this way Yuri...just stay behind me." he told her before he turned to Kagome again.

_Please don't let the bullet still be in her body..._ he prayed mentally as he moved her into a sitting position and started to take off her haori.

  
He sighed of relief when he saw the small hole right next to the diagonal scar on Kagome's bare back. _Thank God...it went through her..._ he thought relieved.

The wounds had already stopped bleeding and dried blood could be seen on her back and chest.

Sesshoumaru tore off a large piece of his sleeve and wrapped it around her upper body to cover the wound. 

  
~*~

  
After he finished bandaging the wound and put her clothes back on again, he carefully laid her back on the floor and turned around to his daughter, who had obediently stayed behind him.

He gently picked her up and set her down next to her mother. "Be a good girl, Yuri, and do not leave your mother's side." he said to her as he gently stroked her soft cheek with his clawed hand. "I must go back to Inuyasha."

The little Yuri only stared at him at first with two big teary golden orbs but then she suddenly gave her father an almost imperceptible nod, as if she understood what he said.

After Sesshoumaru saw that, he stood up and turned around to walk out of the cave.

_Forest spirits...if you do exist, then I beg of you to protect my mate and daughter until I return._ he pleaded inwardly as he looked up at the trees.

Without second thought, Sesshoumaru dashed into the direction of the castle.

~*~*~*~

Sesshoumaru lowered his pace and began to walk when he arrived at the clearing where his castle stood. 

It was quiet, and no other sound could be heard except for the rustling leaves and gushing wind.

From his perspective, the landscape looked fairly untouched. This side of the castle and this part of the clearing gave the impression that no battle had ever occurred today.

But he knew it was all a lie; he knew that everything that had happened today was real and that it was there...on the other side of the castle.

Sesshoumaru frowned when the stench of blood grew stronger with every step he took towards the place where he last saw Inuyasha.

He stopped when he finally arrived at the other side.

Dead bodies were spread all over the place. The grassy area near the castle, which had always been fresh green of color, was now tainted with an ugly dark red hue.

Several deep gashed could be seen in the earth. The gashes were all gathered at one spot and they diverged as they went further away from it.  
_Kaze no Kizu..._ Sesshoumaru concluded in himself. _...he really used it... _

He scanned the area around him. The human corpses were everywhere in his vision. _This isn't all of them..._ he thought as he recalled the huge army that stood in front of the castle walls before. 

  
Sesshoumaru stopped looking around when his eyes caught a particular trail of bodies. _He moved the battle away from the castle!!_ he realized and followed the trail as it leaded into the forest.

_This is strange...this scent...it's Inuyasha's but...it's different..._ he thought puzzled as he continued his way though the forest.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when some faint sound reached his ears. It came from the direction where the trail of corpses and damaged vegetation was leading to.

  
*sob sob*

  
_It's the sound...of someone crying...?_ Sesshoumaru concluded surprised.

The sobbing sound became louder as he continued to follow the trail. 

  
~*~

  
After walking a while, he reached a small clearing. The sun shone brightly, causing Sesshoumaru to avert his gaze as he stopped next to a tree at the edge of the clearing.

He looked up again after he got used to the bright light and scanned the area.

It was a small circular clearing with a big and old tree standing alone in the middle.

_The trail of bodies stops here..._ he realized as he saw the last group of bodies that was spread all over the place.

Suddenly, the sound of someone crying could be heard again, drawing his attention.

  
Following the sound, Sesshoumaru realized that there was someone else there in the clearing.

  
*sob...sob...*

  
He narrowed his eyes and looked more carefully.

It was a little girl, around the age of seven or eight. She was standing in front of the big tree with her back to him. The girl was wearing strange clothes that he had never seen before. It was a sleeveless green dress with fresh green leaves attached to the edges of the garment.  
But what caught his eyes the most was the color of her long hair that almost reached her small waist, for it had the exact same shade like Kagome's.

  
"G-gomen nasai..." the girl sobbed.

Sesshoumaru froze. _She's talking to me...??_ he wondered but then shook off the thought. _No...she doesn't know I'm here...who is she apologizing to then...? _he mused and decided to walk a little bit closer to the tree, without making a sound.

Then he found out that the girl was indeed talking to someone in front of her and took several soundless steps more towards the tree to see whom it was.

  
Sesshoumaru widened his eyes and stopped walking as soon as he could look over the little girl's head.

  
There he was, sitting at the base of the old tree and resting against its huge trunk. One leg pulled up, while the other was stretched out in front of him. In his one hand he was still holding the hilt of his transformed blade that rested against a thick root above the earth, while the other was resting on the base of the gap between his waist and leg that was pulled up.  
His eyes were closed, his head was slightly tilted aside and forward and his beautiful silver bangs, which slowly billowed on the passing breezes, were framing his pale face. All this made it seem as though he was sleeping.

But Sesshoumaru knew it wasn't true...for he could not sense any signs of life coming from him anymore.

_Inuyasha..._ he called his name inwardly.

  
His mouth and throat felt dry.

His fingers were tingling.

His eyes were burning.

And there was an indescribable pain coming from his chest.

_This feeling...I had felt it before...the last time I have felt like this..._ he thought as he closed his eyes and memories started to wash over his mind.

  
~*~

In his mind, a small boy appeared. He had beautiful long silver hair and dark stripes on both his cheeks, while a crescent moon mark decorated the center of his forehead.

The boy was crying.

Suddenly a huge bed appeared in front of the boy. It was a queen size bed made of pure gold and it had snow white sheets and pillows. Someone was lying on the bed and looking up at the boy.

It was a woman. She had the same beautiful silver hair like the boy, but it was much longer and they were spread evenly over the large pillow where her head was resting on. On her forehead and cheeks, there were the same crescent moon mark and stripes, only hers were gold of color unlike his dark purple ones.

"Do not shed any more tears, my dearest." her gentle voice spoke as she raised her pale yet soft hand to cup the boy's cheek and looked at him with a pair of sky blue orbs that were filled with love. "Promise me...that you will take good care of yourself."

The boy grasped her hand and replied with a nod.

"Here..." the woman said as she took something from her neck and handed it to the boy. "...keep this with you."

The boy shook his head as tears streamed down his small red cheeks.

"Please...protect it for me...okay?" she begged, opening her hand and revealing a silver necklace with a silver pendant attached to it. The pendant was shaped like a flame and a small pearl-shaped silver-blue colored cat's-eye stone was embedded at the center of the flame. 

The boy hesitated a while before he finally reached out his hand and took it from her palm.

"Give it...to the most important person to you when you grow up...give it...to the one you want to protect most..." she said with a weak smile. "...and love her...with all your heart..."

The boy held the jewelry close to him and nodded, although he didn't understand much of it. [AN: Recall that he's only 4 years old (see chapter 11).]

"Be strong...my...sweet...little...Sesshou...maru..."

After saying that, the woman closed her eyes forever.

The boy widened his eyes when he felt her hand leave his cheek and saw it drop to the edge of the bed. 

  
"Haha-ue!!!" he cried. "Haha-ue!! Please don't leave me behind!! Haha-ue!!!"

  
~*~

  
Sesshoumaru slowly opened his eyes again as the boy's cry still echoed in his head. _...it was...when mother passed away..._ he remembered as he looked at Inuyasha again.

His thoughts were cut off as the little girl in front of him spoke again.

"G-gomen...nasai...onii-chan...hontou ni...gomen nasai..."

_Why is she apologizing to Inuyasha? Who is she?_ Sesshoumaru wondered. _Her scent...it's waterfalls and forests...just like Kagome, but there's something else too..._

  
Suddenly a gush of wind blew past them and lifted the girl's long hair up to the air.

Sesshoumaru widened his eyes when he saw her back.

It was hidden behind her long black hair before, but now he could clearly see two parallel vertical gashes in her dress.

_It's the scent of blood...her blood!!_ he realized when he saw the stains of dried blood around the gashes in the garment. "You...you are hurt..." he suddenly spoke before he realized that he should not have, since she didn't know he was standing right behind her.

  
The girl almost jumped up of shock by his voice and turned around.

The word 'shock' was written all over her face when her teary pale green orbs met his golden ones.

Before Sesshoumaru could say anything to reassure her, he saw that she had already recovered from the shock. 

  
"Are you...Inuyasha's onii-chan...?" she asked, scanning him from head to toe.

He nodded.

" G-gomen nasai...it's...it's all...my fault..." she sobbed as tears flowed down her cheeks.

"Why are you apologizing?" he asked, a bit surprised.

  
The girl dropped her gaze. "Onii-chan...he asked me to warn you and Kagome onee-chan...for Naraku...and his army..." she sobbed. "...so...I used my wings...and flew as fast as I could...but..." She started to sob louder. "T-there was this horrible...horrible youkai...he...he ripped them off...he took...away...my wings...I didn't...make it...in time...I-I'm so sorry..."

  
Sesshoumaru knelt down before the child and cupped her cheek with his clawed hand. "Shhh...it's okay now..." he comforted her.

"NO!! It's not!!" she cried, lifting her gaze to Sesshoumaru as more tears appeared. "It's all my fault...if I just flew a bit faster...Inuyasha onii-chan...he...he wouldn't have___"

She was cut off when Sesshoumaru suddenly picked her up and gently set her on one of his arms. The little girl was now basically sitting on his elbow and lower arm and her head was now a little bit higher than his.   
As she was afraid to fall, the girl quickly wrapped her arms around his neck when Sesshoumaru stood up and walked closer to the tree.

Sesshoumaru carefully set her on his lap as he knelt down in front of Inuyasha. "Look at him." he said to her.

The girl released his neck but didn't dare to look at the one who's death she thought herself to be the cause of. 

"It's okay...it's not your fault...don't cry...can you not see his peaceful expression?"

After hearing that from Sesshoumaru, she finally turned to look at Inuyasha, who indeed looked peaceful. After a while, her sobbing became softer than first.

  
"I thank you, little one..." he suddenly spoke again.

The girl turned to Sesshoumaru again, giving him a puzzled look.

"You must have been the one who healed all the wounds and cleaned all the blood on his body, have you not?" he asked, looking at Inuyasha, who didn't have any wounds or bloodstains on his body or his clothes.

The girl nodded slightly as she dried her cheeks with the back of her small hands.

"What is your name, little one?" he inquired.

"My name is Phly." she replied.

"You are an elf, aren't you?"

The child widened her eyes of surprise. "H-how__"

"You have the same scent as Kagome," he explained. "and the same unique haircolor."

"H-how is...Kagome onee-chan?" she asked after a moment of silence.

Sesshoumaru gently set her on her feet and stood up. "She is safe, don't worry." he replied as he patted her head reassuringly with his clawed hand.

His expression saddened as he took one last look at his little brother and turned to walk away.

  
~*~

Just when he almost reached the edge of the clearing he felt a strange presence in the clearing and turned around.

Nothing really changed in the landscape -or so he thought- until he noticed another person standing next to Phly in front of the tree.

It was a woman. She was dressed in a white robe with long sleeves and a graceful upright collar that almost reached the bottom of her lower-jaw. The edges of the robe were decorated with golden leaves of the Acer pseudo-platanus (Sycamore tree) and its length allowed it to reach her bare feet as she stood on the grass.  
She was standing in front of Inuyasha, turned so that Sesshoumaru could only see the side of her face but narrowly miss the corner of her eye. Phly had also turned so that her back was facing him as she looked at Inuyasha.

_She has the same raven black hair and the same scent...who is she...???_ Sesshoumaru thought surprised as he saw her long black hair that reached the height of her knees. He was even more surprised when the woman knelt down in front of his brother and cupped his cheek with her hand.

_What is she planning to do??_ he thought suspiciously, narrowing his eyes.

  
"Don't worry, I'm not a dangerous person." the woman spoke as she straightened herself up again without turning to Sesshoumaru. "I just came to see the ones who had risked their lives to protect my daughter."   
The woman finally turned to face him completely. "And the one who is willing to protect her for the rest of his life." she added.

Her robe had a V-shaped neckline and around her neck, she was wearing a beautiful golden necklace with a pendant that consisted of one golden leaf accompanied by two smaller ones; all three of the same kind like those decorating her robe. On her forehead, there was a thin silk thread visible. It ran loosely from the one side of her forehead horizontally to the other side. Attached to the thread, were three shimmering crystals in the shape of small dewdrops.  
The woman was also wearing a pair of earrings in the shape of a leaf, but unlike all the others, this pair was transparent. The only parts visible were the edges and the veins of the leaves, which were also gold of color.

  
Sesshoumaru widened his eyes when he saw her face. _K-Kagome...!?_ he thought shocked as his eyes met the dark blue ones. _No...it's not her..._ he concluded as he looked more closely.

The woman resembled Kagome by her haircolor, scent and eyecolor, but her eyes were more slit (like Sesshoumaru's) and she looked more mature and older than Kagome. She was also taller; she was about the same height as Sesshoumaru.

"Y-you are__" he started.

"I thank you, your brother and your friends for protecting Linwé, my daughter...who should now be known as Kagome." she explained. "I am forever in your debt...that is why...this is the least I could do for you..."

With that said, she closed her eyes and pulled the bigger leaf from her necklace. She stretched out her arm and released the leaf.

  
As soon as the leaf touched the ground, the earth beneath them started to glow.

The light was so bright that Phly and Sesshoumaru had to close their eyes.

_The scent of blood...it's disappearing...!?_ Sesshoumaru realized inwardly. He opened his eyes a little to see what was happening and he could not believe what he saw.

  
All the bodies except for Inuyasha's started to sink into the glowing earth and all the damaged vegetation started to glow together with the earth.

Like a miracle, the damaged vegetation started to regenerate itself. The trees that were ripped apart, sank into the earth together with the bodies and made place for healthy new sprouts. Dead flowers and plants were given new lives and all the grassy areas were given back its fresh green color again as the blood dissolved into the air.

Sesshoumaru turned to look at the woman again, only to find her smiling at him with her eyes opened. "From this day on...this forest will bear the name of your dear brother and it will be known as a Sacred Forest." she said with a gentle voice. "Us elves are obliged to guard a Sacred Forest so don't worry...we will protect this forest...we will protect Inuyasha's Forest as we will guard and protect his mortal coil with our very lives."

After she said that, she closed her eyes again and the earth gave off a flash of blinding light.

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes of the bright light and averted his gaze.

  
~*~

  
After a while, the light disappeared and he opened his eyes again. His eyes widened at what he saw.

  
Everything that was damaged before, seemed now untouched, as if the battle had never taken place. Dead trees were gone, dead flowers were healed, the grass was green of color and the stench of blood had completely vanished from the air.

But what he found most extraordinary was that on each place where a body lied before, a flower could be seen.

The only thing that remained unchanged was Inuyasha, who was still sitting at the base of the tree and resting peacefully against its trunk. But his blade was not in his hand anymore, it returned to its sheath that was tied to his owner's waist. 

  
Then Sesshoumaru suddenly thought about something and quickly looked around. _The woman...she disappeared...!!_ he realized.

"Onii-chan...?"

He turned to the voice and saw it was Phly who called him. "Who was that?" he asked.

"That was Myrna-sama, one of the oldest and wisest among the elves." the little elf replied.

"She...is Kagome's mother...?"

Phly nodded. "But Kagome onee-chan doesn't know that..." she added.

  
Without saying anything else, Sesshoumaru turned around to walk away.

"Wait!!" Phly cried after him.

"Don't worry, I won't tell her." he reassured her as he continued to walk away, leaving the elf behind in the clearing.

  
-- Back at the cave --

When he arrived back at the cave, he was relieved to see Kagome and his daughter unharmed.

Kagome was still unconscious and Yuri had curled herself up on top of her stomach and was sleeping. 

Sesshoumaru couldn't help but feel a bit relieved to see that she hadn't woken up yet, for he didn't know how to tell her about Inuyasha's death if she had.

  
Silently and carefully, he gathered her and his daughter into his arms and walked out of the cave again.

~*~*~*~

"Uhn..." 

Kagome slowly opened her eyes as a gentle breeze caressed her cheeks.

"You're finally awake..." a familiar voice spoke.

She looked up and blinked several times before she realized that she was in the arms of Sesshoumaru. "S-Sesshoumaru..." she said weakly.

Her gaze shifted from him to Yuri, who was sleeping on top over her stomach. _Yokatta...Yuri's fine..._ she thought relieved.

  
When she looked up at Sesshoumaru again, she saw that he wasn't looking down at her anymore but at something in front of him. She slowly turned her head and followed his gaze.

  
Her eyes narrowed to focus on her vision and they slowly widened as Kagome finally saw what Sesshoumaru was looking at.

She gasped, covering her mouth with her pale hand. "I...Inu...yasha...!!"

  
Sesshoumaru slowly set her on her feet as he took Yuri from her embrace. "Go..." he said to her with a gentle voice.

  
Without taking her gaze off of Inuyasha, Kagome slowly made her way towards the tree. Now and then, she would lose her balance and almost collapse to the floor but she gritted her teeth and managed to remain on her trembling feet as she marched forward.

  
She finally allowed herself to collapse to her knees when she reached the tree. Tears welled up in her eyes as she leaned forward and raised her hand to his pale cheek. "Baka..." she whispered, stroking his cheek. "Inuyasha...no baka..."   
With that she dropped her gaze to the floor as tears streamed down her cheeks and fell onto the clawed hand of Inuyasha that was resting on his stomach.

  
"Kagome onee-chan...?"

  
She jerked her head to where the voice came from, only to find herself looking at a young girl dressed in green, who had the same raven black hair as she. "You...you are...?" she asked, slightly taken aback.

The little girl suddenly raised her hand and handed something over to Kagome.

It was a necklace made of shark teeth and black beads.

"This is..."

"Inuyasha onii-chan wanted you to have it." the girl explained.

Kagome widened her eyes and her gaze reciprocated between Inuyasha and the girl.

The girl smiled warmly. "Don't be afraid, being able to communicate with spirits is one of my abilities."

  
Still feeling a bit surprised, Kagome slowly reached out her hand and took the necklace.

"He told me that it will protect its wearer when he or she's in grave danger." the little girl added.

Kagome looked up at the girl. "T-thank you..." she said awkwardly.

She looked down at the necklace in her hand and then at Inuyasha, who looked more peaceful than ever. _Inuyasha..._ she thought as her expression saddened.

Suddenly she realized something. "W-wait a minute, how did you__" she started her question as she turned to the girl again, but didn't get to finish the sentence as she saw that the girl wasn't there anymore.

  
"What's wrong?" Sesshoumaru asked as he approached her from behind.

"The little girl, did you see her? Where did she go?" Kagome asked as she stood up and turned to him.

"I didn't see anyone else but you near Inuyasha." he replied.

  
Kagome dropped her face. "So ka..."

"What is that in your hand?" he asked, pointing at her hand.

She looked at her hand. "This necklace...Inuyasha gave it to me..." she replied.

"Can I see it?"

Kagome nodded and gave it to Sesshoumaru.

  
Sesshoumaru took it with his free hand and examined it more carefully. "This...this is..." he started.

"Sesshoumaru...? What's wrong?" Kagome asked, noticing the surprised look on his face.

"This necklace...Inuyasha made it himself. These are the teeth of the shark that he managed to hunt down when he was 12." he explained as he pointed at the teeth of the necklace.

Kagome was surprised by the story behind the necklace and turned to Inuyasha as she retrieved the necklace from Sesshoumaru again.

_Inuyasha...I was the one who caused your death...yet you...you still care about me...?_ she thought as her look saddened and tears welled up in her eyes. _I...I'm..._

  
Suddenly she felt something wrap around her waist from behind and slightly pull her backwards until she was leaning onto something warm. When she looked up and behind her, she realized it was Sesshoumaru.

He had pulled her backwards to his chest with one arm while the other was still holding the sleeping Yuri. "He would not have wanted to see your sad face or watch you shed any more tears for him, Kagome." he gently whispered in her ear.

Kagome turned around to look up at Sesshoumaru, only to receive a warm and comforting smile that he was giving her.

  
"Y-you're not...angry...? You don't...hate...me...?" she asked. "Inuyasha...he was your only family...your only brother...he___"

She was cut off when Sesshoumaru suddenly leaned closer to her face and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

She looked at him with wide eyes when he finally pulled away and looked down at her. 

"Silly woman...what gives me the right to hate you? Inuyasha would never forgive me if I did...and I do not think I could ever allow myself to hate you." he smiled and stroked her cheek with the back of his clawed hand.

Kagome leaned her head onto his chest and sobbed softly. "Thank you...Sesshoumaru...thank you..."

He stroked her hair comfortingly as he placed his chin on top of her head.

Suddenly a voice could be heard from a distance.

"Take good care of yourself and Kagome..."

  
Sesshoumaru looked down at Kagome at first but then realized that she didn't hear the voice so he looked around. He stopped when something white caught his eye.

It was the woman again, she was standing at the edge of the clearing and looking at them together with Phly, who was holding onto the woman's hand as she stood next to her. "Please take good care of onee-chan." the little elf smiled.

Sesshoumaru gave them both a determined look and nodded. When he looked down at Kagome and back to the edge of the forest again, they were already nowhere to be found. _Whatever the reason was for the separation of the mother and daughter and of two blood related sisters...don't worry...I will take care of her._ he vowed mentally as he looked down at Kagome again.

"Come Kagome, let us leave." he said as he released her from his embrace.

Kagome nodded and took one last look at Inuyasha before she took Yuri into her arms again.

Sesshoumaru carefully scooped her up in his arms and turned around to walk away from the tree. _Rest in peace Inuyasha...I promise you...I will protect my family for the rest of my life._ he thought determined as he followed the trail of flowers out of the clearing.

~*~

"S-Sesshoumaru..." 

"Hmm?" Sesshoumaru responded as he continued to walk through the forest with Kagome in his arms. 

"Where...are we going? What are we going to do now...?" Kagome asked.

"Right now, we are going back to our castle." he replied. "As for your second question, we will decide that after you have recovered from your injuries."

Kagome frowned. "But the castle...it's__"

She was cut off when the bright sunlight shone on her face as they finally exited the forest and reached the clearing. When she looked up at Sesshoumaru again after she got used to the bright sunlight, she saw the smile on his face as he looked up at something in front of him. 

  
Kagome trailed his gaze and turned her head, and just couldn't believe what she saw. "The...the castle...!!" she gasped.

  
The castle was whole again and not even a scratch could be seen on it, as if it was never damaged before. Beautiful white doves descended from the skies and landed on the castle walls to rest and wash their delicate wings.

  
"B-but how is it possible...!?" she asked as she looked around and realized something else. "The huge army of humans...is gone...!!" Then she remembered Renkotsu and Kyoukotsu's death and quickly looked at where their bodies lied before. 

Her eyes widened. "H...how...?" she gasped as her eyes found only two beautiful daffodils standing next to each other in the grass that moved along with the kind breezes. She turned to Sesshoumaru with wide eyes. "How...??"

  
Sesshoumaru smiled and placed a gently kiss on her lips. "Let us just call it a small miracle that the kind spirits of the forest has granted us." he whispered after he broke the kiss.

Kagome thought for a small moment before she returned a warm smile. "A miracle...it is...then..." she agreed. 

* * *

**Vocabulary:**  
**Kaze no Kizu:** Wound of the Wind, a powerful technique that can be used with Tetsusaiga, Inuyasha's blade.  
**haha-ue: **mother  
**gomen nasai:** I'm sorry  
**hontou ni:** really  
**onii-chan:** brother  
**onee-chan:** sister  
**yokatta: **I'm relieved  
**so ka**: I see  
**Inuyasha no baka: **stupid Inuyasha

Posted: 24 December 2003  
Last Edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tag problems)  
Spelling check: YES 


	31. Epilogue

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients and my imaginations into a new story.

_Italic_: thoughts   
-- --: locations   
"...": spoken words   
~*~*~*~*~: time gap   
*...* : noises

* * *

  


**AN ELVES' CHILD**

-by Kittymui-

  
**Epilogue**

  


The sun shone brightly in the clear blue sky as soft breezes created small waves in the fields of grass. The singing of the birds echoed through the clearing while they rested on the castle walls.

A soft tune filled the air as a small girl walked over the fields. She was dressed in a small yukata that shared the same color of the two lonely daffodils that could be seen in the field near the castle wall. The tiny silver flowers that were embedded on her garment reflected the sunlight like small crystals from afar. Beautiful silver bangs with strands of raven black hair here and there framed her cute little face where a dark blue crescent moon could be seen at the center of her forehead, together with two pairs of dark marks of the same color on her cheeks right below her golden eyes. On the left side of her head, there was a small braid woven of silver hair that was partly covering her slightly pointed ear. And around her neck, a necklace made of shark teeth and black beads could be seen

Her silver hair on the back of her head, which was slightly longer than her shoulders danced in the air as she made small rabbit jumps with her bare feet towards the two daffodils. "One...two...three...four..." she counted each time she jumped. "...five...six...seven...eight...nine...and...TEN!! Yay, I made it!!" she cheered happily as she succeeded in reaching the flowers within 10 jumps.

The little girl knelt down and smiled as she carefully touched the delicate petals of the flower with the tip of her forefinger.

  
~*~

  
"Yuri?" a voice called from a distance.

The little girl jumped up of surprise. "I'm here!!" she shouted as she turned around and ran towards the courtyard of the castle. 

When she arrived at the gate of the castle, two familiar persons were already waiting for her. One of them was Sesshoumaru, her father and the other was Kagome, her mother.

Sesshoumaru was wearing his usual garments and armor with his sword hanging from his waist while Kagome was dressed in a dark blue yukata with white sakura blossoms embedded on it. Her raven black locks, which was slightly shorter than Sesshoumaru's, was slowly waving along with the gentle breezes from the West, together with the silver ones.

  
"Yuri...why aren't you wearing your sandals? Mou...look at your dirty feet." Kagome complained as she searched her sleeves for a napkin. "Sesshoumaru, could you lift her up so I can clean her feet?" she asked, pulling out a white napkin.

"I'm sorry mommy...don't be angry at Yuri...I just feel better when I walk over the fields without the sandals..." Yuri explained as she shifted her gaze from her mother to her father.

Sesshoumaru chuckled and winked at her playful daughter before he picked her up and set her on his arm. "Your mother is not angry, she's only scared that you might step on sharp or poisonous objects." he comforted her.

"There...all clean!" Kagome said as she wiped away the last spot of dirt on Yuri's feet and put away the napkin. She looked up at Yuri, who still had a regretful look on her face. "No, mommy isn't angry at you, silly." she smiled as she softly tapped her nose with her forefinger. "But we are going out today, that's why I wanted you to wear sandals."

A smirk suddenly appeared on her face. "Well, I guess daddy will just have to carry you until we get back, since we don't have time to search for your sandals right now, if we planned to return before the fifteenth sunset." she grinned as she eyed Sesshoumaru.

Sesshoumaru gave her an annoyed look and wanted to complain but was halted when Yuri wrapped her tiny arms around his neck and hugged him tight. "Yup! Daddy will carry Yuri...won't he?" she asked as she pulled away and looked at him with puppy eyes.

Sesshoumaru eyed Kagome, who had a smirk on her face before he turned to Yuri with a warm smile. "Alright! Daddy will carry you until we get back." he gave in.

"Yay!!!" Yuri cheered as she released Sesshoumaru's neck and settled herself comfortable on his arm.

"Shall we?" Sesshoumaru asked, turning to his mate. 

Kagome nodded and together they left their castle and headed East into the forest.

~*~*~*~*~

  
During their travel, Yuri got a new pair of wooden sandals as Sesshoumaru finally gave in to his sore arm of carrying his daughter around all the time.

  
Several days later, they finally arrived at their destination. 

A nostalgic breeze blew past them as they stopped before the entrance of the small town. 

"Are you sure about this, Kagome?" Sesshoumaru asked as he turned to look at his mate.

Kagome took a deep breath as memories washed over her mind. "I have to..." she said, more determined than ever. "...or else I won't be able to move forward..."

  
"Mommy and daddy are slow! Yuri is going in first!" their daughter shouted as she hopped into the town.

"Yuri, wait!" Kagome called after her but her daughter had already disappeared around the corner of a row house.

"Don't worry love, I'll go get her." Sesshoumaru said to her reassuringly and jumped up to the air and into the town.

_Well...he could have taken me with him...mou..._ she growled inwardly and entered the town on foot.

  
  
-- Inside the town --

  
_This sure brings back memories..._ Kagome thought as she walked over the streets. 

It has been five years already since she left this place, yet she still remembered how the streets and houses looked like. _Nothing has really changed here..._ she concluded in her mind as she realized that everything stood right on the place where she had remembered it. 

  
~*~ At the same time ~*~

  
_I wonder why mommy and daddy wanted to come here...there's nothing special here... _ Yuri mused, looking all around her as she walked over the street. As she was consumed by her thoughts, she didn't realize a woman was walking up to her from the opposite direction and slightly bumped onto her.

  
*bump* 

  
Yuri lost her balance and fell backwards, right on her bum. The woman, on the other hand, managed to prevent herself from falling to the floor but dropped her bag filled with potatoes of shock, causing the potatoes to roll all over the street.

"Oh my goodness, child, are you alright?" the woman asked worriedly as she ignored her errands and knelt down in front of Yuri.

"Ite..." Yuri groaned as she got back to her feet and rubbed her behind. She wanted to reply the woman's question but then she noticed the potatoes that have spread all over the place. "Oh I'm sorry... I'll get them back for you." she quickly said.

"Wait__" the woman called after her but halted when the girl had already ran to the other side of the street to gather the potatoes.

~*~

"Here you go!" Yuri smiled as she handed the woman her all the potatoes.

The woman stared at her with wide eyes, surprised by the fact that a little girl like her could gather all the potatoes within two minutes. "T-thank you, little one...you're a good girl." she said with a smile and put the potatoes back in her bag.

Yuri widened her golden eyes as she finally had the chance to look up at the woman._ Kirei..._ she said inwardly when she saw the golden locks of the woman. _She's pretty for a woman around the age of forty._ she thought as she sniffed her age. 

The woman was dressed in a simple brown dress with long sleeves and a V-shaped neckline. She had sky blue eyes and beautiful golden hair with light curls that reached her lower back. 

  
"Are you lost or something? Where is your mommy and daddy?" she asked as she gently patted the Yuri's head.

Right when Yuri was about to answer her question, she smelled a familiar scent approaching and quickly turned around, only to see Sesshoumaru descending from the sky and landing softly on the floor right in front of her.

"Daddy!!" she cried as she hugged Sesshoumaru's leg. "This pretty woman is nice and she called me a good girl!"

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes when he saw her dirty yukata. "Yuri, are you unharmed?" he inquired.

"Heki heki!! Yuri is a good girl! Yuri is strong, just like daddy!" she replied with a big smile.

Sesshoumaru returned an approving smile before he looked up at the woman. "I am sorry if she had misbehaved." he said politely.

"Oh no! Not at all! She has been a very good girl. You must be her father, you two look so much alike." she smiled warmly. "Your daughter is very beautiful...her mother must be beautiful as well."

  
At that moment, a voice suddenly called Sesshoumaru.

  
"Sesshoumaru!!" 

  
The woman frowned. _This voice...no...it couldn't be..._ she thought hesitatingly.

  
Kagome finally caught up with Sesshoumaru from behind. "D-did you find Yuri?" she panted as she reached his side.

"Mommy!!" Yuri cried as she reached out to her mother.

"Yuri! Thank God you're okay." Kagome sighed of relief as she took her daughter into her arms.

The woman widened her eyes when she saw Kagome and gasped loud enough for her to hear her.

Kagome turned to the sound and widened her eyes too when she saw the woman.

  
"K-Kagome...?" she said.

Kagome gave her a smile and nodded. "Hello mother." she said warmly.

  
-- At Higurashi's house --

  
"Please...make yourself comfortable and take a seat." Shira said as she walked into the livingroom.

Yuri was the first to run into the livingroom with Sesshoumaru and Kagome right behind her.

"How is father and Souta?" Kagome asked after she settled herself on the couch next to Sesshoumaru, who had picked their daughter up and set her on his lap.

"Ron is doing well, he's still hunting to support us. And Souta, he's learning how to hunt like his father. He's doing fine too." Shira replied, settling herself on a chair near the couch. "Right now, they are practicing in the forest, I think they should come home any time...oh look there they are!"

Right after she said that, the sound of the front door opening could be heard from the hallway. 

Ron was the first one to enter the house with Souta right behind him. "You've done pretty good today son! Tomorrow, we'll practice again." he said to his son as he walked into the living room. He stopped walking when he saw Shira sitting on the chair. "Shira? Why are you__" he halted himself when he realized there were visitors. His eyes widened when he saw them.

Just when Ron was about to scold his wife for letting youkai into their house, Kagome and Sesshoumaru (lifting his daughter up in his arms) stood up, causing him to halt himself.

Kagome smiled at Ron. "Father..." she said before turning to Shira. "...mother..." and then to Souta who stood next to his father. "...and Souta..."  
"It's has been a while since I had left this house, that's why I have come back to see how you all were doing. To see that you are all very healthy, makes me very happy." she began. "I'm also doing fine...for I have found my own happiness." she said, shifting her gaze to Sesshoumaru and back to Ron and Shira. "But I don't think I will ever come back here again...so please take good care of yourselves."  
With that said, Kagome walked pass Ron and made her way to the hallway with Sesshoumaru, who was carrying Yuri in his arms, right behind her.

  
The sound of the front door closing could be heard from the hallway, followed by a long silence that fell upon the house.

  
~*~ 

  
Kagome took a deep refreshing breath as she exited the small town and entered the forest. "Ne Yuri? What would you like to eat when we get home?" she turned to her daughter, who was sitting comfortably on the arm of Sesshoumaru. 

"Euhm..." Yuri thought, putting a finger on her small cheek. "...pancakes!!!" she cried happily.

"Alright! Mommy will bake some pancakes when we get home!" Kagome smiled.

"In bunny shapes?" her daughter asked with wide eyes.

"In bunny shapes." she agreed with a smile.

"Yay!!!" Yuri cheered with her arms stretched above her, causing Sesshoumaru to stop walking for a moment as he almost lost his balance.

Kagome giggled and shifted her gaze to Sesshoumaru, who almost fell because of their playful daughter. 

"Come here you meany!" he growled playfully as he wrapped his free arm around Kagome's waist and pulled her closer until she was leaning onto his chest. 

They silently gazed at each other as their eyes met.

"Uh-oh..." Yuri giggled as she covered her eyes with two hands and turned her head away from her father and mother, knowing what was going to happen.

Kagome turned to look at her daughter with a frown but her dark blue orbs met the golden ones again when Sesshoumaru gently shifted her gaze back to him with his thumb and forefinger on her chin.

They shared a smile before they slowly leaned closer to each other and sealed their lips with a kiss.

  
~***_OWARI*~_**

* * *

**Vocabulary:**  
**mou:** geez  
**ite:** ouch  
**kirei**: beautiful/pretty  
**heki: **I'm okay  
**ne:** hey  
**owari:** the end

Posted: 25 December 2003   
Last Edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tag problems)  
Spelling check: YES 


	32. Extra chapter: Original story

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients into a new story.  
  


* * *

  


**AN ELVES' CHILD**

-by Kittymui-

  
**EXTRA CHAPTER:  
The original story...**

**  
Author's note:** Hi all! I promised to write you a summary of the original story after I've finished An Elves' Child, so here it is!! I haven't mentioned everything in detail about the story, but it's enough for you to recognize the elements that I've used for my story ^-^.

~*~

**Summary of 'Hasse Simonsdochter' by Thea Beckman: **

Hasse Simonsdochter was a girl who lived in Kampen (The Netherlands) around 1480. Her father was a poor reed cutter. Hasse, her sisters and her brother had to help to earn enough money for living. But Hasse didn't want that; she couldn't bear living and staying within 4 walls, so she ran away from home very often to enter the reed-lands.   
At home, she was treated very badly because her parents thought she was a changeling. Because of her rebellious behavior, raven black hair and strange eye color, people thought she was a changeling of the elves.   
She got beaten very often by her father and got very little to eat.   
Hasse learned how to hunt herself and the older she became, the longer she stayed away from home (sometimes even a couple of days). One day when she ran away from home again, she was found out by some cattle-drivers who wanted to rape her.   
Coincidentally, Jan van Schaffelaar, a mercenary of noble origin, passed by and killed the man who positioned himself on top of Hasse. The other two cattle-drivers ran away.  
Jan escorted Hasse back to her house. Later Hasse found out that Jan was captured and sentenced to death because of murdering the cattle-driver. She felt very guilty because it was because of her that he was going to be decapitated. Because Jan was the only person who treated Hasse like a normal human being she decided to go to the place of the execution. And before he was going to be executed, she shouted to plead for his life. Which meant for her to marry him in order to save him. Jan didn't decline it and married Hasse.

Jan took her to another city called Zutphen and they enjoyed each other's company for a couple of days. Then Jan had to leave with a group of soldiers; they had to fight somewhere else. He promised Hasse to return after a couple of months and gives her the key of a small hut where she could spend the summer without him.  
Hasse didn't want to be kept inside a house and goes to the forest to spend the summer there. Which caused her to miss the news that the army of Jan had suffered great losses.

As Hasse returns to the city after a couple of months, she heard the news about Jan being dead and decided to return to Kampen on her own. Meanwhile, Jan returned with a few men (who remained of his army) to Zutphen. He found out that Hasse was missing and decided to look for her. He recalled the birthplace of Hasse and goes to Kampen to search for her. And fortunately he found her again.  
Then Jan received another mission of his Lord. The mission was to keep control of a group of farmers in a place called Barneveld. They went there and lived there with a group of 13 soldiers and 2 women.  
Now and then Jan and his men would go out their house and show the farmers who the leader was. Hasse would dress herself like a man and join the show off trip.   
After a period, they imprisoned a master bell-founder and his servants for debt. One of the servants was Gerrit van Wou. The mercenaries demanded money from Kampen if they wanted their bell-founder back.  
Gerrit found out that Hasse was in fact a girl and fell in love with her. He got into an argument with Hasse when he criticized her relations with the mercenaries. Hasse didn't tell this to Jan and Gerrit thanked her for that.  
Later on, Gerrit, the master bell-founder and the other servants were set free again after the mercenaries got their money.

First child of Hasse was born and the farmers became gradually angrier with the mercenaries for dictating them. They rebelled against the mercenaries. The farmers drove them into a church and demanded Jan and Hasse to surrender themselves. (they believed Hasse to be a witch, since she is cross-dressing and sometimes almost too nice to be true) Then Jan talked to Hasse; he told Hasse to take care of herself and their child and that he had buried a treasure somewhere near a tree. He kissed her and jumped off of the highest tower of the church; sacrificing himself for Hasse and their daughter. Hasse escaped from the tower by disguising herself as a man. 

Hasse dug up the treasure and lived on under a pseudonym and changed herself into a gipsy in order to hide herself from people who knew her (to be a witch).

Gerrit, who became a master bell-founder himself searched everywhere for Hasse, for he knew about Jan's death and he was still in love with her. When he found her, he asked her to marry him because he wanted to take care of her and her daughter. Hasse said that she would think about it and that made the end of the story.  
At the end of the book, there were a couple of sentences forming the epilogue of the story, saying:   
"Almost 5 decades later, a historian found a little note in some archives of Kampen, saying: Hasse, master bell-founder Gerrit's housewife."

  
~*~

And? What do you think? Recognized some parts of the story?  
Well for the ones who are confused by the use of characters in An Elves' Child, let me lighten you up:

**Hasse Simonsdochter:** Kagome  
**Jan van Schaffelaar:** Sesshoumaru  
**Gerrit van Wou: **Inuyasha

Furthermore, I usually write replies on reviews, but because I have re-edited ALL of the chapters (because of some tag problems) all the replies are gone. But anyway I still want to thank all of you who have reviewed and encouraged me to finish this story (and continue to write stories). THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH!!! And for those who have read but not reviewed, thank you for reading my story ^-^!! I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have while writing it!!

Of course I won't quit writing fanfictions ^-^. By the time you read this, I've already started or finished my next story. Interested? Just look up my profile and search of other stories that I've written. Until we meet again!!!


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